A Time for Change
by Red Warrior
Summary: Sequel to "Stormy Anniversary". Angered by Lara-Le and Locke's growing closeness, Wynmacher goes to Haven to teach Locke a lesson... or so he thinks.
1. Arguments

Disclaimer: I do not own the Brotherhood, Lara-Le and Wynmacher. I made up Karan and Zep the Echidnas. You'll be warned, this story contains Locke/Lara pairing. For anyone who didn't know it yet, I HATE Wynmacher.

WARNING: alcohol in this chapter, violence in the next. May shock young readers.

_Still don't know what I was waiting for  
And my time was running wild  
A million dead-end streets and  
Every time I thought I'd got it made  
It seemed the taste was not so sweet  
So I turned myself to face me  
But I've never caught a glimpse  
Of how the others must see the faker  
I'm much too fast to take that testI watch the ripples change their size  
But never leave the stream  
Of warm impermanence  
So the days float through my eyes  
But still the days seem the same  
And these children that you spit on  
As they try to change their worlds  
Are immune to your consultations  
They're quite aware of what they're going through_

_  
Changes  
Turn and face the strange  
Changes  
Don't tell them to grow up and out of it  
Changes  
Turn and face the strange  
Changes  
Where's your shame  
You've left us up to our necks in it  
Time may change me  
But you can't trace time_

Strange fascination, fascinating me  
Ah changes are taking the pace I'm going through

Turn and face the strange  
Changes  
Pretty soon now you're gonna get a little older  
Time may change me  
But I can't trace time  
I said that time may change me  
But I can't trace time

"Changes," _by _Butterfly Boucher Feat

**A Time for Change**

Wynmacher the Echidna glared at his wife, Lara-Le, as she closed the door of their apartment. She was holding a bunch of bright red roses close; the one Wynmacher had seen Locke give her minutes before as he stood near the window. He felt the sudden urge to grab the flowers and tear them apart, but he just glared at Lara. "Where have you been?" he asked in a growl.

"To Haven," she answered honestly. "I wanted to wish Locke a happy twentieth wedding anniversary, in spite of what you said about him not remembering it."

Wynmacher raised both eyebrows in surprise. _Locke? Is that it, she spent the entire day with that son of a bitch? No it can't be! _"And are you telling me you stayed there all the day?"

Lara nodded half-absently, a small smile playing on her lips. She probably still had the day's events in mind as she searched for somewhere and something to put the roses in. It made Wynmacher's blood boil to see that she wasn't that much phased to have spent the day with his sworn rival. "And, pray tell, what did you do?" he snarled, a thousand scenarios forming in his head.

"It was wonderful!" Lara smiled. "Knuckles came over to Haven, and we went swimming, and Locke taught me how to rollerblade! Then we had lunch and saw a scary movie." Lara's words were coming on top of each other, which irritated Wynmacher as much as the excited tone in her voice. "And Locke brought me home and gave me these roses. Isn't it sweet of him?"

"Yeah, of course it is," Wynmacher spat. "Speaking of which, I'm sure you two had a lot of fun together, at Haven. Alone…"

Lara jerked her head towards Wynmacher, shock written all over her face. "Wyn! How can you think that? You know I wouldn't do that, don't you?"

"After what I witnessed earlier I'm beginning to wonder." When she looked confused he got angrier. Was she faking it for Locke's sake, or did she have no clue at all? Why did you let him kiss you? Don't tell me you still love him!"

"Wyn," Lara sighed as she put her roses in a bright blue vase and adjusted them. "You have to understand that, even if we are now separated, Locke and I will always be close because we once loved each other dearly, which is still the case. The fact that we have a son brings us even closer."

"Then why did you two divorce in the first place?" Wynmacher asked on edge. This situation was beyond his comprehension. Why two persons, who years ago divorced because they realized they were too different, would still care enough to do things together? _When something's over, it's over. They have to move on. _"Why would you wish to be separated from the one you love?"

"Wyn, if there's one thing I want you to understand it's that Locke and I didn't divorce because we hated each other," Lara said firmly, a contrast to her gentle motions with the flowers. "We just had… disagreements."

"So, you're telling me that after all the things that bastard did to you, you still love him?" Wynmacher asked, frowning.

"Love isn't something you get over easily, Wyn," Lara answered, her voice hardening. "And don't speak about him like that. He has changed and matured over the last years, and maybe it's time for you to do so."

"What's this supposed to mean?"

"It means there's no use in being jealous, Wyn. You know, it's very kind of you to worry about me, but I can assure you being near Locke is far from dangerous. I know you think of him as a jerk for leaving me, but please don't. If anything, I proposed the divorce." Lara turned to him and smiled slightly. "Don't act all stressed out, Wyn."

She gently put a hand to his cheek, which he brushed off angrily. "It doesn't matter what you say. It's obvious that dumb fool acted all romantic on you, and you were too blinded by your so-called love to see past his behavior, that's for sure."

Lara put her hands on her hips. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure he talked about how much he loves you, cares about you; but sorry darling he fooled you. I'm sure he doesn't love you; if he did then he wouldn't have done the things he has done years ago. He would have stood up for you, like I do. He would have protected you, like I do. But did he? No, he just took your son and ran away, abandoning you. Is that what you call a good husband?"

Now angered, Lara blurted out: "You know, Wyn, I'm beginning to wonder whose love is stronger. Yours or his. After all he took my remarriage pretty well, and he tries his best to be civil to you. Why can't you do the same to him?"

Wynmacher found himself taken aback by those words; they were meant to reason, not to hurt, but anyway that's what they did. The brown echidna fell silent, and his expression turned dark. "Well, if that's what you think, Lara, so be it. From now I shall take matters in my own hands, seeing as you can't do so yourself. See you later." And then he left. He slammed the door and strode outside, leaving a very sad and distraught Lara-Le behind him.

_What is he going to do? _

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"Chill out, Wyn my man!" Karan drunkenly said, elbowing an annoyed Wynmacher in the side. "Why are you so stuck up, anyway?"

Wynmacher sighed and shook his head. He wasn't about to tell his friend about Lara-Le; in his current state the bright orange echidna was likely to spread the news, a thing Wynmacher didn't need right then. He turned to his drunken sunglasses-wearing counterpart. "No special reason."

"Leave him alone, his girl cheated on him, that's why," Zep grunted. Zep was a dark red echidna, with a single lock of brown hair resting on his forehead. His aqua blue eyes were less clouded than Karan's brown ones, showing he had been drinking more moderately. But drinking nevertheless.

"Is that true?" Karan exclaimed, a little too loudly for Wynmacher's taste. The brown echidna threw glances around him, but the others echidnas in the bar were either drinking themselves into oblivion or laughing their heads off; far too occupied to listen to them. "How did you find out?"

"Well, I wouldn't say she 'cheated on me', as Zep would put it, but she did spend the day with another man she happens to know very well," Wynmacher darkly explained.

"Did you kick his ass?" Karan asked, now staggering dangerously.

"I think you've had enough, Ka," Zep stated while pushing the orange echidna down on his chair. The dark red one then turned to Wynmacher. "Seriously now, Wyn. Who was it?"

"Lara's ex-husband," the brown echidna whispered, fidgeting nervously.

Karan widened his eyes. "That's bad, man. Very bad." When Wynmacher looked at him the echidna shrugged. "Your girl might go back with him, you never know. However I'd say you go to him and kick his sorry butt! That'll teach him to mess around with you!"

"For once I agree with him," Zep nodded. "This guy – whoever he is – had his chance; he lost it, now Lara-Le is yours. And if he doesn't get it what about making him?" Zep frowned when he heard Wynmacher sigh. "What's the matter, bud?"

"It's just that… it's not that easy, you see. I know he's much stronger than I am, you can't even imagine what he's capable of-" He was cut off when Zep shook his head. "What?"

"I've got the key to your problems," the red one affirmed. He got up and went to order a tall glass of a suspicious-looking liquid, which he slammed on the table in front of Wynmacher. "Drink this."

"What is it?" the brown one asked as Karan grinned mischievously.

"The cure you've been waiting for," Zep said.

Wynmacher took the glass and sniffed its content, wincing when he identified the smell. "Alcohol?" he grunted. "You don't expect me to drink this, do you?"

"Trust me; you'll feel much better-"

"And you'll want to kick some butt!" Karan guffawed before drowning once again in his beer-filled mug. Wynmacher winced, disgusted. He's never been drinking seriously before, and he didn't know if it was a good time to start.

Hesitantly, he took the first sip…

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Three echidnas made their way out of the bar. It was past midnight, now, and there wasn't much light as the three males staggered in the street, clearly showing they'd been drinking more than moderately.

"I told you it would make you feel better," Zep blurted out, struggling to keep his balance to a minimum.

"You were right," Wynmacher admitted drunkenly. The brown echidna was feeling light-headed and invincible. He was struck by the urge to break something, to destroy and cause chaos. These were emotions he had never had before; would have Locke been standing next to him he would have ripped his damn head off.

"You ready for some ass-kicking, then?" Karan asked, his vision clouded.

"Stop saying that, Ka!" Zep burst out, whacking Karan upside the head. "Wyn will of course beat the bastard to a bloody pulp, won't you pal?" Zep turned to Wynmacher, a dazed smile on his lips. "Won't you?"

"Of course I will." Wynmacher hopped into his car, turning it on. He didn't care if he was too drunk to drive, he knew Constable Remington wasn't making a round tonight. "See you later, buds."

"Later, pal!" Karan exclaimed and waved frantically.

Wynmacher took off towards Haven… with every intention to teach Locke the lesson he'd been asking for.

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What will follow is the reason why you should never listen to drunken friends' advice.


	2. No Regrets?

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own anything -sigh- Lucky them.

WARNING: scenes of violence.

**Chapter Two: No Regrets? **

Locke the Echidna yawned as he turned all the surveillance screens off one by one. His fathers were long asleep, and he figured out it was time for him to go to bed as well. After all, even a Guardian had to sleep sometimes.

The day's events had him completely exhausted; in fact he had done more things in a day than in six months. Talk about a change of pace! Seriously now, Locke loved his son, but he couldn't help but wonder how the boy could be so hyper at times. _Maybe Athair is wearing off on him, who knows. As long as Knuckles doesn't do cartwheels and eat sugar, it'll be fine. _

More importantly, now, he had had the chance to spend the day in Lara's company. Gentle and lovely Lara. He knew there was no way on Mobius they would get back together, but at least he had let her know that he still loved her. That and her being close to him was enough for Locke. She was happy, and he had his dreams. _That's one anniversary I won't forget anytime soon! _

Locke paused, his finger hovering over the button when he was about to turn the last computer screen off. Could he- no that wouldn't be appropriate, especially after today. But still, his mind burned to see Lara one last time before going to bed. Indulging himself, Locke tipped Lara's apartment's frequency on the keyboard, making the mental promise to go to sleep right after seeing his ex-wife.

The image came on, and there she was. Lying peacefully asleep in her bed, a half-smile paying on her lips. _She must be dreaming, _Locke thought. He then noticed something: she was alone. No Wynmacher to be seen anywhere. _That's strange. Well I take it he hasn't come back from work yet. _

Locke dropped that thought as he observed the beautiful female on the screen. He smiled as he saw her roll on her side and snuggle up with her pillow; how he longed to be by her side, in this bed, just holding her and smelling her sweet scent. He would have killed to be that pillow. _But she's got another man, now, and if she's happy with him then so be it. She deserves to be happy. _Still it hurt to watch her like this, as if the sight of her let alone her presence was forbidden to Locke. It felt even worse after all that had happened during the day.

Then Locke was hit by a thought he had had all along, but had never found a way to express till then: _I miss her. _

The cold feeling in his heart, the empty space in his chest. She was it, she was the missing part. And the worst of all was that he knew, no matter what he would say or do, he couldn't get her back. That was what he had got to face, and it maddened him. But at least now he knew they were on good terms, so new opportunities offered themselves to him. _Maybe I'll visit her tomorrow and ask her out for a walk. _

Having now found a good reason to get up the following morning, Locke muttered a "Goodnight Lara," and turned the screen off. He got up from his chair and stretched out, his limbs half-asleep. Locke then got out from the surveillance room and walked in the dark corridor towards his quarters. _Maybe we could go rollerblading again. She seemed to have fun this morning. _He smiled, the memory coming back to him. His heart burned to squeeze her hand once again and whisper comforting words in her ear.

By the time he finished pondering about it, he was in front of his bedroom. He was about to open the door when he saw something move in the shadows from the corner of his eye. Not fearing anything, he turned around.

Imagine his surprise when he saw a rather angry-looking Wynmacher standing there, arms crossed and frowning. Locke's first instinct was to ask: "How did you get in there?"

Wynmacher shrugged as if it has been the easiest thing in the world. "I found your entrance code in one of Lara's drawers. Simple as that." His face darkened. "Which code, now that I think of it, had nothing to do there." Locke was about to object but the brown echidna held a hand up. That's when Locke noticed Wynmacher was slightly swaying on his feet. "Before you ask, I'll tell you. I'm here to teach you a lesson you aren't about to forget."

Locke frowned, now confused. He didn't budge as Wynmacher approached him, expecting some angry words as usual because that's what the younger one always did. But when he was within punching range, Locke realized Wynmacher's breath reeked of alcohol, which could explain the swaying. _Uh-oh, this could turn out bad… very bad. _The red Guardian did something he had never done before: he tried to reason his rival. "Listen here, Wynmacher, you're not in your normal state and-"

"Shut up you bastard!" the brown echidna barked right before his fist shot forwards. Locke dodged the hit, taking several steps back. "You've ruined Lara's life!"

Locke hadn't the time to ask for further explanations as Wynmacher went on. "All along I did my best to protect her, comfort her, and heal her from all the things you did to her! Sadly she loved you, Locke, and still does, but she was slowly getting over it till you came up and acted all sweet with her! Why can't you just leave her alone? You've ruined her life, you've ruined all of my efforts, and you're going to pay for it!"

Locke barely had time to register what his young rival had said before he took the full impact of Wynmacher's fist against his face. His head jerked aside from the momentum, his features crisped in pain. _What does he think he is doing? I guess he didn't take that well that Lara spent the day with me. Still, if he wasn't drunk, I wouldn't find this situation possible. _

Locke managed to catch his balance again and turned to his adversary; many thoughts rang through his mind as he saw Wynmacher charging. _What can I do, now? I can't use my powers; after all he isn't a real enemy. But I can't fight him either, he is Lara's husband and isn't in his normal state. _As Locke was pondering Wynmacher had reached him, and had punched him the stomach. Locke toppled over, landing on his back on the cold metal floor. He moaned in pain.

"Already tired, Locke?" Wynmacher asked dangerously.

The red Guardian turned his icy-blue eyes towards him. _Two can play at this game, Wynmacher. Maybe you're not normal, but it won't be said I hadn't warned you! _Locke jumped to his feet and kicked Wynmacher's legs from under him. As the young one fell Locke stood up and looked down at him. "Now listen, Wynmacher. You're drunk, you're overreacting, and you need rest. Now go home. I don't want to fight you."

"Too bad!" Wynmacher jumped, hands extended in front of him. He caught Locke by the waist and the two males toppled on the floor, growling and tussling to get on top. Wynmacher enclosed his hands around Locke's throat, wanting to strangle the red echidna to death. Struggling to get some air, Locke lashed out at Wynmacher's face in a desperate attempt to free himself. He managed to slash the brown echidna's face, and at the same time ripped one of the black rings he wore on his spines off.

Wynmacher released the death grip he had on Locke's throat, bringing a hand to his face. Locke took advantage of it and used his feet to throw Wynmacher away from him. He fell a little further, and as soon as he gained his feet he attacked Locke again. He bit the red one's shoulder as the echidna was going to punch him, and Locke yelped as blood began to seep through his lab coat. He shoved Wynmacher away, and the battle went on.

The fight has lasted for at least a good half-hour now. The battle had led the fighters far from their starting point, to a part of Haven that was rarely used by its occupants: the ship bay. Shuttles and hovercrafts were stored there; they weren't that much used since the Dark Legion was rather peaceful these days. _And I wondered how my fathers could sleep through the commotion we're making, _Locke thought. _Now there are even less chances they'll wake up at all. _

Locke tried to dodge Wynmacher's next attack, but failed as his badly injured leg gave out and he tripped. This gave the brown echidna time to act, and soon they were face-to-face, their fingers entwined together in a vicious grip as they pushed to make the other fall. Locke's nose almost touched Wynmacher's, and the red one winced. First in disgust as he smelled alcohol through his young rival's bared teeth, and second in pain because Wynmacher had hit his injured leg. "Giving up, now are we?" the brown one growled, a smirk on his lips.

"In your dreams," Locke hissed back. He gathered his strength and pushed Wynmacher away. The Guardian was divided between running away and using his powers to beat Wynmacher to death. The first choice would make him a coward, the second a murderer. That was when he realized he could do none.

Wynmacher recovered quickly from Locke's shove; his anger and the alcohol running in his bloodstream gave him the strength to put past his injuries whereas Locke was exhausted because of the day's events. He strode up to his adversary and punched Locke under the chin; the red echidna felt his teeth shake from the impact as well as he could now taste blood in his mouth. He took several steps back but didn't fall; he then brought a red-stained gloved hand to his nose and whipped the blood that flowed out of it. Locke didn't know if he could hold on much longer at this rate.

He couldn't help but back up as Wynmacher advanced towards him. _What now? He has to be in the same bad shape as me, but he still has energy. I would have, too, if I used my powers but I can't. What now? Edmund help me. _Locke couldn't help a yelp of pain as Wynmacher punched his ribcage; there was a sickening cracking sound, and Locke knew something has been broken. He even felt it as he began to run out of air. _Dear Aurora, what's happening to me! _

Locke stumbled, leaning against a wall for support as he tried to catch his breath. Wynmacher's punch had probably damaged his lungs, which meant he only had a few hours left to get medical attention if he wanted to survive. Locke's field of vision blurred; he saw a brown silhouette as Wynmacher walked over to him.

The brown echidna was still fuming, and the furious glint in his eyes meant he wasn't about to leave Locke alone. _I'm going to beat him_, Wynmacher thought angrily. _I'm going to show him what happens when he messes with Lara! _He accompanied his thoughts with a powerful punch to Locke's jaw, which sent him stumbling backwards. A triumphal grin broke on Wynmacher's face-

then he noticed the stairs behind Locke.

Those were the stairs leading down to the ships and the landing platform. They were plain metallic steps, sharp and grey steps. And Locke was heading right towards them.

But before Wynmacher could decide on what to do, Locke lost his balance and fell. Downstairs. To the brown echidna it took him hours to hit every step and crash on the ground down the stairs. There were tearing and cracking sounds, but strangely enough no screams. Locke knew they were useless.

When silence returned in the ship bay, Wynmacher brought himself to approach the stairs. What he saw then sobered him up and made all of his anger vanish. There was so much blood everywhere! The red liquid was giving off a dark glint against metal, a sinister announce of what had taken place.

Then there was Locke. Lying on his side on the floor, bathing in a pool of his own blood, the Guardian was lifeless. His lab coat and his fur were a mess of mixed blood and sweat, and from where he stood Wynmacher could see no rising and falling of his chest. Locke wasn't breathing. The full impact of what he had done hit Wynmacher: he had killed a Guardian. He had killed the person Lara loved.

A moan jerked him out of his thoughts. He couldn't tell if he was relieved or angered to see Locke open an eye weakly. Now he had no time to waste; Locke was soon going to die from lack of air, or loss of blood. But Wynmacher was too frightened to do anything but think of all the explanations he'd have to give were he caught in this predicament. The young echidna then did the only thing his mind told him to do.

He turned heels and ran out of Haven, leaving Locke to die behind him.

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4 a.m.

Lara-Le couldn't sleep. She kept on wondering what Wyn was doing. _I just hope he's not out doing something stupid. _She rolled on her back and looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand. _He's been gone for five hours now. Why hasn't he come back? Surely he isn't _that _angry. Pretty ironic, how when one opens up, the other vanishes. I guess the saying is right, good things never come unaccompanied. _

Lara sighed and sat up in her nightgown, leaning against the headboard while getting the pillow out from under her. She wanted to get her mind off Wyn for some time, so she began thinking about Locke.

She remembered the love in his bright blue eyes as he handed the roses to her. His soft smile as he patiently taught her to rollerblade, his gentle touch as he prevented her fall. She could still smell his fresh scent and hear his clear laugh rang through her ears. Lara smiled and hugged her pillow to her chest, wishing it could turn into Locke. _It's a wonder how he changed. He seems to have grown more communicative, I suppose thanks to Knuckles. Why couldn't he be like this when we were married… _

Lara shook her head, instead turning her attention to the red roses in the blue vase on her nightstand. She smiled softly and reached out to stroke a petal. The proof that Locke still loved her. She knew the divorce hurt him deeply, and so she was surprised to see that he still had feelings for her. She also knew they were doing themselves emotional harm by holding on the past. _Locke… why do you have to be so stubborn? _Lara had once asked him that one question when they were young and dating. He'd just smiled and answered: "Because that's part of the reason you love me so much," before kissing her.

Lara smiled in spite of herself at the memory. Yes, that was a part of him she had learned to dislike and love at the same time. That was when she voiced the nagging thought she had kept hidden for so long. "I still love you too, Locke."

She barely had the time to register that she had said that out loud when the door opened suddenly. Lara started and sat up immediately, her hands gripping the sheets in fright. "Who's there?" she asked quietly.

"It's me," a grumpy voice answered. Lara felt relief wash over her as she recognized Wyn's voice, and couldn't help but wonder at the angry tone she sensed in it.

Lara turned the light on and was about to ask him where he has been when she saw him. His clothes were torn apart, and many gashes covered his head, some deep and surrounded with black. Lara noticed with fright that his gloved hands were covered in blood, and that he was staggering rather than walking. When he took notice of her gaping at him, he groaned. "Damn it," Wyn whispered.

Lara was instantly on her feet and by his side. "What happened?" she asked, putting a comforting hand on his arm. Her anger at him for their argument hours ago melted away, replaced by concern.

Wyn brushed her hand away impatiently. "Nothing," he said. "I just walked by a bar when a brawl broke out. I got dragged in the fight, no big deal." He tried to look cool about it; Lara could see it right through him. There was something else.

"Is that all? Then why is there blood on your gloves?" she asked.

"I tried to stop my wounds from bleeding, and ended up with my gloves drenched, that's why," he answered, his voice slightly wavering. For one long minute, he thought Lara wouldn't buy his story, but to his surprise she smiled kindly.

"My poor Wyn," she whispered, before hugging him. She felt him stiffen in her arms, and took it he hasn't fully recovered from the brawl he had been in. Lara stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, when she smelled something she would have never thought she would smell from him. His breath reeked of alcohol. "Are you sure you just _walked by _the bar, Wyn?" she asked suspiciously, drawing away from him.

Wyn was shifting his weight on his feet, looking nervous. "Well, you see…" he stammered, stumbling on his own words.

Lara frowned, crossing her arms in front of her. "Tell me the truth, Wyn. What were you doing in that bar?"

"This is none of your business," he growled dangerously, and his change of attitude surprised Lara. One second ago he was nervous and unsure, and now his eyes were glowing with anger. Oh she just knew it: he was hiding something from her. "After all you don't seem to mind spending the entire day with that bastard without letting me know about it, so why couldn't I do whatever I want without you knowing?"

"Is that it? You're still angry at Locke? Let me tell you this is kind of stupid for a man of your age to behave like this," Lara said. "I'd thought you would be more understanding-"

"I've tried to understand you, Lara, but I'm unable to! You divorce willingly with the man who hurt you, and then you tell me you love him! Make up your mind, damn it!" And with these last words Wyn stormed out of the bedroom and in the bathroom.

Lara was startled by her husband's words, and as the bathroom's door slammed shut, she sat on her bed and hugged her pillow once again. She knew Wyn's story about the brawl wasn't true. _What in the world happened? _

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Chest slowly, ever so slowly rising and falling, seeming to breath the peace out and the pain in. He could see nothing but red and black mixed together, could feel nothing but the pain. Every single broken bone in his body, every single drop of blood flowing from his gashes. Was he dead already? No, he wasn't that lucky; fate wouldn't even allow him to pass out.

Even keeping his eyes opened has become a real challenge. A passer-by would have thought he was dead. _Not that anyone would see me, though. I have the _extreme _luck to find myself in the most abandoned place of Haven. I'll be long dead when my fathers will find me. _

To think he couldn't even sigh. He couldn't afford to abandon the fight now. He knew death was lurking in his sleep and pain in his consciousness. But he'd have to endure till his fathers come and rescue him. But as for now, breathe Locke the Echidna.

Breathe and live.


	3. Blood is Thicker

Disclaimer: Usual applies.

WARNING: please, Locke fans, don't come howling for my blood! I swear no character will die in this story – expect maybe Wynmacher, but that's another thing. I just want to slip a _what if _in, that's all. Please don't kill me?

**Chapter Three: Blood is thicker **

Sabre the Echidna yawned as he closed the door of his bedroom. He had slept wonderfully well this night, and now his stomach was growling angrily, wanting to be filled. _I guess I better go to the kitchen and see who's awake, _Sabre thought.

The echidna made his way towards Haven's kitchen/ He walked past Thunderhawk's slightly opened door and winced when he heard the snores coming from the bedroom. _I wonder how Grandfather Sojourner's mother was able to stand these, _he mused, chuckling as he continued walking. _Maybe she was deaf, or perhaps she would put his pillow in Grandfather Thunderhawk's mouth. Who knows? _

Two minutes later, Sabre arrived in front of the kitchen. He stood in the doorway, smiling.

Father Athair was in one of his overly cheerful moods – but then when wasn't he ever? He was making pancakes waffles, hovering between the frying pan and the waffle-iron while humming to himself. Seated at the table, Fifth-father Spectre was looking quite sleepy. Sabre could tell it judging by his tired red eyes, but also because Spectre was holding a waffle in his hand while spreading strawberry jam on his wrist.

Then Sabre noticed he could see his fifth-father's skin under his jet black fur. It was raw and red, as if Spectre had been scratching it for hours.

"Hello, Father and Fifth-father," Sabre greeted. "Did you sleep well?"

Whereas Athair smiled broadly and nodded, Spectre groaned. When he saw his fifth-son raise an eyebrow, the black echidna looked up. "You don't know how _hard _it is to get paint out of your fur," Spectre said tiredly. "I spent the first half of the night scrubbing my fur, and let me tell you Sojourner won't try that little stunt again anytime soon."

Sabre chuckled in advance; Spectre's punishments were as unpredictable as they were ridiculous. "What did you do to him?"

"Exactly what he did to me, only it wasn't water or paint I threw on him." A grin crept its way on Spectre's lips, and Sabre shuddered. "It was glue."

The brown echidna gasped. No wonder Sojourner wasn't in the kitchen; the poor guy must be still trying to get rid of the glue! Which he noticed seemed to greatly amuse Spectre. "You're one sick echidna, Grandfather," Sabre joked.

"I know, but he'll get over it. Eventually." Spectre held his waffle up to take a bite out of it, but he bit his hand instead. "Spawn of Dimitri!" he cursed as he squeezed his wounded hand. Sabre just chuckled and took a seat across from his fifth-father.

"Incoming!" Athair shouted. To Sabre's surprise the flying echidna's fist fell down hard on the pan's handle, and the pancakes that were in it were flung across the kitchen. Sabre gaped, but Spectre just held his plate up and the pancakes landed square in it. The dark one chuckled at Sabre's dumbfounded expression.

"He's been doing that for an hour, as you can see." Spectre motioned to the wall behind them, and for the first time Sabre noticed the pancakes that were glued there. There were also some on the ground, and one lonely waffle on the ceiling. "Thanks Edmund, he got it right after the twentieth attempt," Spectre sighed, dropping a lump of sugar in his glass of orange juice and stirring it with a knife.

Needless to say Sabre was as amused as he was puzzled. He was about to say something when his fifth-father took a "knifeful" – if that word is even possible – of orange juice to taste it. He winced and put more sugar in his glass. "Athair, what did you put in the coffee this morning? It tastes horrible." Spectre stuck his tongue out in disgust, and used his knife to put sugar in his glass.

Sabre began chuckling as Spectre scattered sugar on the table, earning himself a dark glare from the tired echidna. "What are you laughing about, Fifth-son?"

"N-nothing. Are you feeling well Grandfather?" Sabre asked, biting back some snickers.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Spectre sighed once again and began to mild-absently cut his waffle with his spoon. _I can see that, _Sabre thought as he watched his fifth-father struggle to cut the waffle. He finally adverted his eyes, fearing that he would crack up. _Must not laugh… of gods he's so stupid… no, don't laugh… don't…_

"Damn these things, they don't cut!" Spectre growled. "Maybe we should replace the knives, they're getting old."

_And I know some relative of mine who does as well…_

"Why don't you try with a fork instead, Fourth-father?" Athair cheerfully exclaimed. "And hurry up, your orange juice is getting cold."

Sabre couldn't take it anymore, and began laughing out loud while Spectre glared. "Very funny, Athair. But you've got one point, my coffee is getting cold." And with that Spectre got up and put his overly sugared glass of orange juice in the microwave and turned it on. Sabre burst out laughing, holding his sides. Spectre cast him a puzzled look. "You're acting quite strangely this morning, Fifth-son."

"You're one to talk!" Sabre choked.

Thunderhawk chose this moment to step in the kitchen. He raised one eyebrow upon seeing his growling father and laughing fourth-son. "I guess it is safer to not ask any question," the lavender echidna simply said.

"You've guessed right," Spectre said as he took his glass of orange juice out of the microwave and blew the steam away. "I don't know what got into him."

Thunderhawk widened his eyes at the glass, casting a glance in Sabre's direction. The younger echidna shrugged, dissolving in another laughing fit. Thunderhawk shook his head and was about to reason with his father when Athair yelled: "Incoming!" and hurled the pancakes as he had done earlier. And before he could even say: "Holy Edmund eating a banana!", two pancakes plastered themselves against Thunderhawk's face. Burning hot pancakes.

Thunderhawk gave off a yell of pain as the pancakes burned his lavender fur. he danced in place and growled as Sabre fell from his chair, now howling with laughter. "Are you going to sit there and laugh or are you going to help me?"

"I'd rather sit there and laugh!" Sabre said.

Thunderhawk humped and brought his hands up to get the pancakes off, wincing when he felt the heat on his skin. "Damn you, Athair, why do you always have to make others suffer from your stupidity?" He ripped the burning pancakes off, ignoring the pain as he threw them to Athair. "Hair-stuffed pancakes. Help yourself."

By the time Sabre had calmed down enough to sit on his chair, Thunderhawk had taken a seat and Sojourner had arrived.

If Sabre had been surprised by Spectre's appearance, then he was completely flabbergasted by Sojourner's. The red echidna was literally missing entire patches of fur, and what remained of it was bristled and standing on end. The furless spots showed red scratched skin, and Sojourner was looking quite annoyed.

"What happened to you, son," Thunderhawk asked, more amused than concerned.

"Ask dear Grandfather Spectre here," Sojourner grumbled while grabbing a plate. "I think _he _knows."

"We're square now, Second-son," Spectre replied while sipping his coffee. Sorry, orange juice. "I got you back, that's all. You wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't started it all."

"But I do maintain glue was pretty _low, _even for you," Sojourned snarled.

"Then it suits you perfectly."

"Do you have any idea how _hard _it is to wash glue off your fur?" the red one shouted, furious. "I spent the entire night in the bathroom, I even had to shave or _rip off _some glued fur! I see _you _didn't have to do that!"

"It'll grow back, don't worry."

Sabre shook his head as he listened to his fighting relatives. They could be so helpless at times, but at the same time he couldn't help but love them. They were the way they were, end of the story, and he could do nothing to prevent it.

But then something occurred to him: Locke wasn't here. His son was never one to get up late unless he was really exhausted – which couldn't be the case. Locke rarely skipped a meal for no apparent reason. His son's absence normally wouldn't worry Sabre, but he couldn't help a bad feeling from setting in his mind.

"Has anyone seen Locke?" Sabre asked.

"I saw him yesterday before going to bed," Spectre said. "But I haven't seen him yet this morning."

"Knowing your son, he's either in his lab working on a machine or in the surveillance room stalking Lara-Le," Thunderhawk grunted. "Or else he forgot to wake up."

_Fourth-father must be right; then again this doesn't look like Locke. He usually is the first one to wake up. I have to check on him. _"I'll get him," Sabre announced as he got up, but Spectre motioned for him to sit down.

"Let your son breathe a little, will you? He'll come around, just eat a pancake or two and he'll be there before you know it. Now sit down."

Sabre sighed and sat back down. He knew he was being overprotective, but he easily showed concern when it came to his only son. His fathers would often tell him to leave Locke alone while Sabre thought what he was doing was what was best for him. He loved his son and hated to see him sad or hurt. _I'm just being paranoid. Locke's probably fine. _

The five males ate breakfast in silence, with Spectre and Sojourner exchanging dark glances every now and then. Half an hour later, the echidnas put their plates in the sink; Locke was nowhere to be seen.

"That's it, I'm looking for him," Sabre said as he walked out of the kitchen. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Take it easy, Sabre," Thunderhawk said calmly. "Your son probably fell asleep in front of a computer screen again."

"I just hope you're right, Grandfather."

Sabre strode in the corridors, heading towards the surveillance room. _May Grandfather Thunderhawk be right, _he thought. _I know he probably is, so why the hell am I so worried? _

The brown echidna arrived in front of the surveillance room and, wasting no time, opened the door. The room was empty, and all the computers screens were blank. _Okay, don't panic. He's probably working in his lab. It would be extremely unusual of him to skip breakfast like that, but oh well. _

Sabre closed the door or the surveillance room, hurrying towards his son's lab. Which was as empty as the surveillance room. _Last option: his bedroom. He'd better be in there, or else… _Sabre couldn't bear the thought of Locke vanishing like that. There had to be an explanation for this. His paternal instincts kicked in, and Sabre took off running in Locke's bedroom's direction. He tried to calm his raging mind. _All right, he just slept in. That must be it. Totally out of character, but it must be. It _has _to be. _Braking in front of Locke's door, Sabre took a big breath and opened it.

Empty. The bed's sheets were neatly folded in a pile on the mattress. And Sabre remembered Locke had washed his sheets the day before. That could only mean one thing: Locke had never slept there that night. _What the hell happened? _Sabre brushed his scared thoughts off and sent out a mental call.

_Locke? Where are you son? _No one answered him. It was like Locke had shut his mind tight and allowed no other in it. That or his son was… Sabre shook his head. He couldn't even envisage the thought of Locke dying. It was far too terrifying. _Locke, for Edmund's sake, answer me! Where are you! _Still nothing; Sabre felt the bile rise in his throat.

He took off running once again in the corridors. "Grandfathers! I can't find Locke!" he shouted.

It wasn't long before the others came up to him. Athair and Spectre were looking concerned, as Thunderhawk grumbled and Sojourner rolled his eyes. "Are you sure, Sabre?" Spectre asked. "Did you check everywhere?"

"Yes I did! I've been to the surveillance room then to the lab then his bedroom!" Sabre said quickly, panic rising in his voice. "Then I tried to contact him but he won't answer! Something happened to him, Fifth-father!"

Spectre rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking. "He won't answer, you say? Well then I guess something happened. Locke wouldn't block one of us out like that." He pointed north. "Thunderhawk, Sojourner, you two go this way. See if you can find Locke. Athair, you go south. Sabre, come with me, we'll go west. First one to find him alert the others, understood?"

They all nodded and went separate ways. Sabre began wishing he knew what was going on at all. He hurried forwards to catch up with Spectre, who was walking fast ahead. "Where do you think he could be?" Sabre asked, concern edging in his voice.

Spectre sighed. "If I knew we wouldn't be looking for him right now. Did you check his lab and the surveillance room?" Sabre nodded. "All right, let's go to the conference room. Then we'll go to the elevator bay and see from there. It'll be harder if we can't contact him, but it'll have to do."

And off they were. But as Sabre feared, the conference room was empty, and so was the elevator bay. And Spectre was seriously going to lose his temper. _Thunderhawk, _he mentally called, _have you two found something, son? _

_No, Father. We've checked the food storages and all the rooms in the north and east aisles, _Thunderhawk answered, now sounding a bit concerned. _Athair is with us, and he says he hadn't got any luck in the south aisle. _

"Well, I think that leaves only a few options," Spectre sighed. "I'll check the medical wing and you go to the ship bay. I'm afraid Locke has left Haven, Sabre, but we better make sure of that before alerting anyone." Sabre nodded, and departed towards the ship bay. He still didn't know why Locke would hide or leave Haven; after all the day before had been quite nice, so his son had no reason to leave.

As he neared the ship bay, Sabre somehow felt he was getting close. His pace quickened, and his hopes got up as he took a last turn. There, metallic walls smelled of turmoil, of a Guardian's previous presence. Sabre looked up and began to shout: "Locke! Where are you son? Locke!" The brown echidna received no answer, though he sped up even more. And when he finally arrived at the ship bay, he stopped dead and his blood froze.

There was a sight he had never seen, not even in his worst nightmare. At the bottom of some metallic stairs, Locke was lying on a side, unmoving and not breathing. And there was so much blood everywhere! On the stairs, on the floor… and on Locke too. Sabre remained frozen in place, unable to take his eyes off of his son bathing in a pool of his own blood – then something clicked in his mind and he screamed his son's name. "Locke!"

Sabre bolted down the stairs. He didn't care if he slipped and fell as well, he just wanted to be with his son, to take him in his arms and hold him close. He fell on his knees beside Locke's unmoving body, and gathered his son in his arms. "Oh Locke, what happened to you?" Sabre hugged Locke close, cradling the young one's head against his chest. "Don't worry, it's all right, I'm here now. I'll take care of you." Sabre tenderly ran his hand through his son's spines – and that's when he noticed Locke wasn't breathing.

"Locke? Son, are you all right?" Sabre asked, his voice beginning to tremble. He drew back and looked at Locke's face, which remained lifeless even as the brown echidna caressed a cheek with the back of his hand. "Locke? Answer, my son… Oh gods no! It's not true!" Sabre felt the first tears running on his cheeks before he knew it. He hugged Locke once again, now in a desperate way. "It's not true! You can't be dead!" he sobbed in denial. "Wake up, Locke! I beg of you, wake up!"

But Locke stayed still, and Sabre sobbed even harder. The elder echidna then felt a hand on his shoulder, and raised watery eyes to see his fifth-father Spectre looking down at him. He'd probably heard him scream. The dark echidna's gaze was soft and full of compassion as he looked at the crying father. "I'm sorry, Sabre," he said quietly.

"What are you sorry for? This isn't your fault and besides he'll recover. Right, Locke? You're stronger than that; you'll be running around again soon." Spectre shook his head, listening to Sabre's words. Apparently he was still in denial of what was going on. "It's not as if he were dead, is it?"

"Sabre-" Spectre began sadly.

"He can't be dead, you hear me? He is not dead!" Sabre said, the tears still flowing from his dark blue eyes. "He can't die now that he realized he could get a life! He can't die now that _I _realized I've never told him how much I love him! It can't happen!" On impulse Sabre got up and threw himself against Spectre, which surprised the black echidna. "It can't happen," the younger one whimpered.

Spectre sighed and gently began to pat his fifth-son on the back as he sobbed in his dark robes. He realized just how young Sabre really was behind that mask of his, but he acted so mature and calm at times it made him sound like he was twenty years older. "I've called the others," Spectre whispered to Sabre. "They'll be here soon."

Sabre nodded weakly in his fifth-father's shoulder, his whole body shaking with sobs. Spectre made shushing noises as he did his best to comfort his grandson. "Ssh, calm down Sabre," he whispered while gently caressing his fifth-son's back. "You're doing yourself harm. Calm down."

"Why him, Grandfather?" Sabre choked in between sobs. "Why Locke?"

"I don't know, Sabre. I really don't know."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

No words can describe a father's tears; no one can heal his broken heart.


	4. A Father's Fury

**Disclaimer:** Usual. Why would I change it?

**Chapter Four: A Father's Fury**

Sabre the Echidna was standing in the medical wing, gazing absently at his still unmoving son lying on a bed. Locke had many electrodes fixed on his body that were connected to a machine. It monitored the echidna's blood pressure and heartbeats. A thin tube in Locke's nose provided him all the oxygen he needed to stay alive.

_Alive. _Half an hour earlier Sabre thought his son was really dead; but then Father Athair had arrived and, as shocked as he was, had immediately told everyone that Locke wasn't dead. How he knew it was beyond Sabre: Athair had just kneeled by Locke on the floor and had put a hand to his heart. The flying echidna had just smiled and said: "He's alive."

Alive. This word brought so much relief and joy to Sabre. According to Athair, Locke had focused his Emerald powers on his heart to make it beat at a normal rate. That's why he'd stopped breathing; his lungs weren't physically functioning. It was a good strategy, but he wouldn't have been able to hold on much longer without oxygen. Apart from his heart, all of his muscles lacked oxygen and he probably wouldn't be able to move normally for a week. As for the others injuries they'd noticed many deep gashes, which Athair bandaged easily, along with a broken arm, two broken ribs and some spine damage. He'd been lucky a rib hadn't pierced a lung, but Spectre feared he'd be paralysed for life, like Hawking rolling around in his wheelchair.

And here was Sabre, now, waiting for Locke to wake up. He wanted to be the first thing his son would see when opening his eyes. Quietly he reached over and took Locke's bandaged hand in his own. _I swear, Locke, when I find out who did this to you, I'll make the bastard's life a living hell. _Sabre gently squeezed his son's hand. To him it was obvious Locke hadn't gotten hurt alone; something or someone had had a hand in it.

Sabre's head shot up when he heard the younger one groan. Locke seemed to be struggling against his wounds, even in his unconscious state. Sabre's son shifted on the bed, apparently in great pain, and it infuriated his father to be so helpless. Sabre could do nothing but gently pat the hand he held and use words to comfort his hurt son. "Hey there, Locke," he whispered. "Everything is all right, now. You can rest, don't struggle anymore."

His son seemed to hear him, because he calmed down somewhat and opened his eyes half-way. Locke's usually bright blue eyes had fallen to a grim grey, clouded by pain and despair. Sabre smiled weakly and ran his hand on his son's cheek. "Don't worry, Locke, we're here." Locke weakly squeezed his father's hand and his features tensed in pain. "Now don't move. Father Athair said we couldn't give you painkillers yet because of the lack of oxygen in your blood. It could do you more harm than good."

Locke blinked to signal he understood, then dozed off and fell into dreamland where he could fully rest. Sabre bent and kissed his son on the forehead, carefully avoiding the healing gashes on Locke's head. "Rest well, son."

Sabre sat down just when the door opened and Thunderhawk walked in. The elder echidna nodded in greetings and turned to Locke. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Everything's going smoothly so far," Sabre said. "I just hope we'll be able to give him painkillers soon. It kills me to see him in so much pain." And it really did; Sabre couldn't bear the sight of his son hurting. He wanted nothing but take the pain in his son's place, but unfortunately he couldn't. And that's what maddened him.

Thunderhawk nodded respectfully and held his hand up. "I've found this in the corridor near Locke's bedroom," he informed. "I thought it might interest you."

Sabre looked up to see Thunderhawk extending an open palm, and in his palm a black ring. One of those echidnas used to slip on their spines. This one was thin leather, with one side torn up as if it had been ripped off in hurry. Or in a fight. Sabre frowned. "I've never seen this sort of ring before. Whose do you think it is?"

"I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I believe I saw Lara-Le's new husband wearing some." Thunderhawk gave the ring to Sabre. "If that can be of any help."

"Thank you, Grandfather. I'll stay with Locke and try to figure this out." Thunderhawk nodded and left quietly. Sabre's gaze fell on the black torn up ring in his hand. _I know a certain someone who has some explaining to do…_

* * *

Lara-Le sighed as she put the books back where they belonged. Wynmacher had had a mood swing in the morning and had knocked the books shelves off. To think she had just asked him how he felt… Lara couldn't even imagine what his reaction would have been if she'd asked what had happened the day before.

_Something happened, and apparently something bad. I can't remember seeing him so upset about anything before. _Lara made the mental note to figure it out later, when a paper fell out of a book. She frowned; she didn't remember seeing any torn out page in a book, so what was this? She bent down and picked the paper up; only it wasn't a paper. It was a photo, and when she saw it Lara smiled.

On the picture was Locke, grinning sheepishly while he scratched the back of his head. He was wearing an apron upon which was written "Kiss the cook", and behind him a black dust-covered kitchen could be seen. Lara chuckled as she remembered Locke's first attempt at cooking, which had ended up with them both eating out. It was before Knuckles was born, and they had been married for six months. Locke had wanted to cook dinner in order to celebrate her twenty-first birthday; unfortunately things didn't go as planned.

Lara-Le smiled. Those were the good old times when Locke would come home every day and spend time with her. But soon after he got distant, and there were times she wouldn't hear any of him for a week. _But he has changed, _she reminded herself. She was about to put the photo on a shelf… but then decided against it and took out the book it had fallen from. It was an old photo album; she sat on the sofa and opened it.

There were tons, and boy do I mean tons, of old photos. She picked up one at random and her smile broadened. This one had been taken during one of their first dates. Which was weird, because Lara hadn't remembered taking a camera to begin with, but it wasn't until later that she discovered Athair had snuck up to take a picture or two. This date had been wonderful: they'd been on a picnic by a lake, and they had had a water fight. Oh she remembered it all too well…

Lara was jerked out of her memories when someone knocked on her door. She swiftly closed the photo album and put back on its shelf; if that was Wynmacher, he would not take too well her looking through photos of her and Locke. Lara then got up and opened the door.

Imagine her surprise when she found Sabre, her ex-father-in-law, on her doorstep. He smiled and nodded to her. "Good morning, Lara-Le. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, come in," she said as she let him in. Sabre nodded and walked in the apartment. "If I may ask… what did you come for?"

"I've been thinking you'd like to hear some news," Sabre said. Lara raised one quizzical eyebrow; she didn't know Sabre that much, but she did know he never _stopped by _to tell news. "I'll go straight to the point, Lara-Le. Locke is lying half-dead in Haven's medical wing."

Lara was so shocked it took her some time to register what the elder male had just said. _Locke? Dying? No it can't be! _In her denial she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "B-but how? Are you sure?" She immediately realized that if Sabre was there, then he was deadly sure of what he was saying.

Sabre sighed. "I'm pretty sure. I wouldn't be there if I wasn't. But I haven't come just to tell you this, Lara-Le." The female saw him shift his weight from one foot to the other. "It may seem strange to you, but… I have to know. Does this belong to your husband?" Sabre opened a clenched fist and Lara-Le frowned upon seeing a torn-up black ring. It was vaguely reminding her of the ones Wynmacher used to wear on his spines.

"Yes, I think it does. But why do you have it?"

Sabre once again sighed. "We found this in one of Haven's corridors, not far from where Locke was attacked. We… well, in truth, _I _think Wynmacher could be the one who mutilated Locke. Has he acted strange lately?"

"Well, he did act strange ever since he came back late last night," Lara said, gradually putting two and two together. "And… he was drenched with blood too. When I asked him what had happened he just told me he got caught in a brawl, but I don't believe him. He was reeking alcohol, too." Lara didn't know why she was telling Sabre all this, maybe because of her concern for Locke. "I don't recall if he was missing any spine ring."

Her ex-father-in-law seemed deep in thoughts, nodding every now and then. Who knew what was going through that mind of his; a father's fury could be so powerful and deadly. Sabre finally looked up at her. "Although I deeply suspect your husband, Lara-Le, I won't jump to conclusions. Could you try and question him when he gets home?" When she nodded he handed her the black leather ring. "Here. Keep this just in case."

With a wave of the hand, Sabre opened the door and got out of the apartment before Lara-Le could say goodbye. She just stood here, the leather ring in her hand.

_Gods. What jsut happened?_

* * *

Sabre sighed as he walked along the stony path leading to one of the houses on the outskirts of Echidnaopolis. Hands clasped behind his back, he kicked off small rocks and his eyes were glued to the grass his feet were walking upon. How in the seven hells was he going to pull that off? Should he go straight to the point, as he had done with Lara-Le, or should he be more subtle?

By the time he pondered that thought over, Sabre had arrived in front of the house. It was a small cottage, built with reddish bricks and surrounded by a huge garden. He smiled upon seeing the bright flowers, the healthy-looking bushes, and took a big breath. This smelt like home. Like his home.

"Sabre! You're here!" a female voice exclaimed. The Guardian turned his head to see a red-furred female echidna standing in the open doorway, dressed in a gardening outfit and holding some sort of cutter. Her hair was drawn back in a ponytail, and her olive-colored eyes shimmered while looking at him. Sabre smiled; apparently, his wife Jenna-Lu hadn't expected him to be there when she opened the door to the garden.

The male opened his arms. "Yes, I'm home, Jenna." She didn't waste a second and ran square into his embrace, dropping her cutter while running. Wrapping both her arms around his neck, Jenna hugged her husband with an unbelievable force and pecked his cheek. Sabre smiled and returned her hug lovingly.

"I was worried," Jenna said as she laid her head on his chest. "You usually contact me every couple of days, and I haven't received any news from you in a week. Did something happen at Haven? Was there a problem with the communicators?"

Sabre shifted nervously; how one was supposed to tell a mother her son was dying? "I... well, there wasn't any problem with the communicators. I have come to talk with you, Jenna. It's a serious matter."

His wife looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "What's wrong? Locke is giving you trouble again? Sabre, I've told you he is still young, he still has to learn."

"Well, although it could be put that way, it isn't what I have come to speak about." Sabre sighed once again. "Could we at least go inside to talk about it?"

"Sure, darling, come on!" Jenna grabbed his hand and pulled him in the house, an action who made Sabre smile. His wife had always been very impatient and impulsive when it came to her only son. Together they sat on a sofa in front of each other. "So, what is it, Sabre?"

The Guardian took a big breath to get ready and began talking. "Last night... well, we aren't sure about the time, but it has to be last night... someone trepassed into Haven. We don't know who it was, we don't know what he was doing here, but we know he was after Locke." Jenna widened her eyes, and then she grabbed Sabre's hand once again.

"How is our son, Sabre?" she asked, concerned.

"Well, he..." Sabre looked up. He couldn't bring himself to lie. "He is dying, Jenna."

The red female gasped, her expression a mixture of shock, deep sadness and horror. She shook her head in denial, tears prinkling at the corners of her eyes. "No, it can't be. Locke is strong, he is a Guardian, he can't be killed like that..." she whispered under her breath.

Sabre brought his hand up to cup one of her cheeks. "Father Athair said that Locke might survive, there is a weak possibilty. But I don't want to let my hopes go up too quickly. The higher you climb, the harder you fall. However I trust Locke, and I think he will make it." Sabre pulled Jenna close and hugged her to his chest, caressing her back as she cried. Her husband rocked her gently and whispered to her: "I have come here to bring you to Haven. If this week is the last Locke lives, then I want him to be with us until... until it is over."

Jenna just sobbed harder, but she nodded in Sabre's shoulder. She would go to Haven, and take care of her son until he was well again or until... she wouldn't even think about it.

"When do you think you can come?" Sabre asked as Jenna's sobbing calmed down.

The red female wiped her eyes. "Now. Let's go to Haven."

* * *

The clock rang. It was 7 p.m.

_Wyn wil be home soon, _Lara-Le thought. _And then he'll have some explanations t give me. _For at least the twentieth time this afternoon, she observed the black leather ring in her palm. Could it really be Wyn's? Could her husband have really tried to kill Locke?

At first Lara had rejected the idea. Wyn wasn't that type of man, and even if he hated Locke he wouldn't kill him. But then she had thought about it carefully, and indeed too many things proved that Wyn was the culprit. First off he was angry at Locke for spending a day with Lara, and he had disappeared most of the night. Then he had come home soaked in blood and reeking alcohol. And finally, this: a black ring found in Haven, the same sort Wyn wore.

_Yes, some explanations, indeed, _Lara thought just as the front door opened. It was Wynmacher, who was coming back from work. Ignoring Lara-Le, he strode over to the sofa and collapsed on it, groaning. "My head, it hurts!" he moaned grasping his skull.

Lara crossed her arms in front of her. She had half a mind to tell him "Serves you well, that is for drinking alcohol," but she didn't. There was another matter at hand. "Too bad, I have a few questions to ask you. For starters, where have you been last night?"

Wyn groaned. "I've already told you-"

"No, Wyn, I mean where have you _really _been last night?"

Feeling cornered, the male rolled on his side and moaned. Maybe playing dumb would work, who knew. Unfortunately for him, Lara wouldn't buy it. "I believe I've asked you something, Wynmacher," the female said dryly. Her husband cringed; it had been a while since she hadn't called him by the nickname "Wyn". Which meant she was angry. Which meant he was in serious trouble.

"Can't we talk about it later?" he risked.

"No, Wynmacher. We're talking _now._"

"But where do you think I've been? It's not like I went out of town," Wyn growled.

"Oh sure, forgive me, it's not like you went to Haven, after all..." Wynmacher froze at those words. _She knows... oh my god, she knows! _"It's not like you tried to kill Locke-"

"And what makes you think that I did?" he barked, abruptly sitting up. He dropped the dumb act and glared heatingly at his wife.

"_This _makes me think that you did," she answered while showing him the black leather ring. "Locke's father, Sabre, said they found it near the place where Locke was attacked last night. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Wynmacher stood gaping at the object. Now he was as good as dead. He might as well... "You have to understand, Lara."

"Understand what?"

"That he asked for it!" Wynmacher blurted out without thinking. "He already had his chance, but he failed, and now he is trying to win you over again! He acts all sweet and kind, and I was angry and I didn't know what came over me and this is now!" His words were coming on top of each others as he rambled on and on to defend himself.

But Lara-Le wasn't even listening to him. Ever since he began admiting that he tried to kill Locke, her mind had shut down. Wynmacher, her husband, had tried to murder her ex-husband out of jealousy. It looked awfully like one of those drama movies she sometimes saw on TV.

"Please try to understand!" Wynmacher pleaded. "All the while I wanted to protect you, I didn't want you to suffer at his hands once again!"

This brought Lara back on Mobius. "Protect me? Don't try to fool me around, Wynmacher, you were just jealous. Dead jealous, in fact, that I spent some time with Locke without you knowing. Whereas he never tried to harm you in a any way, and in this way he is far more understanding that you'll ever be.

"I know we aren't married anymore, Wynmacher, but no matter what we will always share a bond in a way. I've already told you this, but we have a son, we both are Knuckles' parents!"

"So, you mean that just because we had no kid together, I am nothing to you?" the male growled.

Lara-Le sighed. _He _was the culprit, still _she _had to give explanations. "I haven't said that. I just want you to understand that Locke and I are close, and that's no reason to try and kill him."

"I mostly understand that you're seeing another man behind my back, ex-husband or not," Wynmacher said, and his words finally pushed Lara over the edge.

"All right, you know what? I'm sure you can live by yourself for a week or two, because I'm going to Haven to help Locke. After what Sabre said, it's going to be awhile until he is fully healed, but that's fine. The longer, the better, goodbye Wynmacher." Lara-Le strode up to their bedroom and grabbed the bag that was resting on the bed. She had informed the Brotherhood that she would come to Haven, and surprisingly the Guardians had accepted, even rather gratefully. Lara had planned to go there the next day, but with Wynmacher and that new turn of things, she couldn't stand being in the same room than this man for another night.

"Lara," Wynmacher called. "What are you doing?"

"What I should have done at the beginning," Lara dryly responded. Without a last glance back, she opened the door and went out, carrying her bag.

_Locke. I'm coming. _


	5. Dealing

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I even lost my english corrector. There might be even more spelling errors, so be prepared!

**Chapter Five: Dealing**

It was Thunderhawk who came to Lara-Le when she arrived in front of Haven's cave. She was surprised by the expression on the elder echidna's face: a mixture of sadness and concern, but also a glint of hope as he looked at her. Lara gave him a smile to encourage him.

The lavender echidna's lips drew a weak smile on his own. "We knew you would come sooner. Call it a Guardian's intuition." He reached out and, like a gentleman, offered to carry her bag for her. "Shall we go in?"

Lara only nodded, allowing him to take her bag. As they turned and he led her into the cave, she couldn't help but notice how different Thunderhawk was from the grumpy echidna she knew. He seemed to be wiser, to act repressed. In all, he was looking much older.

Thunderhawk walked, silent and almost as dark as the cave itself. Lara-Le tried to engage a conversation. "So... how have been things in Haven?" she asked quietly.

The lavender echidna turned his head towards her and kept on walking. "Well, pretty much the same since this morning. Locke is in a bad shape, Sabre is running around, Sojourner is stuck to surveillance duty and doesn't even dare to come out of the surveillance room. Athair is either moping around or hiding, and Father has locked himself up in his bedroom in order to _think about it, _as he put it. As for me, I don't know what to think anymore. I hope that you'll be able to help Locke. To help us all."

Lara smiled weakly as they finally got into the elevator. As it began its descent, her fears caught up with her; what if it was already too late? What if Locke really died? She wouldn't be able to live with it.

To get her mind off these dark thoughts, Lara observed Thunderhawk. The male was standing up as straight as ever, but his dark blue eyes didn't hold that annoyed and hard glint Lara-Le always saw in them. They seemed softer and, instead of hard, tired.

Suddenly Thunderhawk sighed. "Better tell you now. Locke is really ragged up, not a pretty sight. Athair must actually be changing his bandages. If you want to wait, I can-"

"No," Lara whispered. "I would like to see him now."

Thunderhawk nodded. "I understand." He didn't add a word about Wynmacher, and for that she was grateful.

When the door of the elevator opened, they walked out; then Thunderhawk abruptly stopped. Lara-Le turned to see him frown. "What is wrong?"

"Something is happening to Locke," the lavender echidna said, his eyes staring off into space as if he was listening to something. "Something is wrong. Come." Thunderhawk took off running towards the medical wing, or at least Lara-Le supposed as she did her best to keep up with him. Her concern for Locke gave her the force to follow the male echidna's big strides.

A few seconds later they met with Sojourner in a hall. He looked like he had just run for miles and miles. "Son, what is happening?" Thunderhawk asked the panting echidna.

"I don't really know," Sojourner exhaled. "I've heard cries of pain and Spectre cursing, so Athair must have done something wrong."

"As if things couldn't get worse," Thunderhawk sighed. "Come on, let's go, before my father rips Athair's eyes out."

The three echidnas got to the medical bay in record time, and Sojourner hastily opened the door. Lara couldn't help but gasp at what she saw: Locke was lying spread-eagled on a bed, his face crisped in intense pain with his chest bleeding profusely from a nasty gash. Beside the bed were Athair, with a blood-soaked bandage in his hands and an ashamed look on his face, and Spectre who was looking ready to kill his fourth-son.

"What have you done, you moron?" the black echidna barked.

"I just tried to change his bandages, I wasn't aware that another rib was misplaced," Athair weakly replied.

"And of course, you didn't know his wound had reopened? And to think you're the medecine-qualified one!" Spectre said, sarcastic. He hadn't even noticed that there were three others echidna in the room. "Now, pray tell, what are we going to do?"

"Stop it, Father," Thunderhawk growled. "Lashing out at Athair won't heal Locke, you know." Specter turned to his son, and raised one eyebrow. Thunderhawk then turned to Athair and spoke to him: "What exactly happened?"

"I began to change his bandages like I do every couple of hours," Athair explained, "but as I removed the one around his chest, the wounds there began to bleed because, I think, of another misplaced rib." Then a look of horror crossed the usually happy echidna's face. "Oh Edmund, we have to act quick!"

"Why, what is going to happen?" Sojourner asked.

"The rib might not be broken, but I'm afraid that if it is misplaced it could be moving," Athair said, his head turned towards his relatives as he hurriedly flew to Locke's bed. "And if the rib is moving, then it might..."

He was interrupted by a choked and strangled cry, which caused all five echidnas to look at Locke. The male looked like he was gasping for air, but with his chokes came blood from his mouth. It flowed down his bearded chin and finally on the bed. His eyes were wide and his pupils narrowed as he coughed up more blood.

Only pure horror of what was happening kept Lara from running over to Locke to help him. She now really thought that he was going to die.

"By the Ancient Walkers," Athair whispered. "It happened. The rib pierced his lung... he now has ten minutes to live... it's all my fault!"

Thunderhawk advanced firmly towards his third-son. "This is no time to mope around, Athair. Now, tell us what we have to do. It isn't too late, Locke can be saved if you give us instructions."

Athair took a big breath and nodded, getting over his fears and now determined to do anything to asve his grandson. "I have to sew the piercied lung up, then replace the rib and close the wound, but I don't know if he will be able to handle the pain. He has been through so much already..."

"That can be fixed," Spectre said as he walked foward. The dark echidna was ashamed of his previous behavior and wanted to make up for it by helping. "I can take the pain for him while you take care of the lung."

Athair frowned. "Grandfather, through the mental bond the pain will at least be twice as hard. Are you sure you can deal with it?"

"Only one way to find out." Spectre walked over to where Locke lay twitching in pain and motionned to Thunderhawk. "Son, come here. No matter what, make sure my hands stay in contact with Locke's skull. Sojourner, help Athair." Yes, Spectre was back in command.

As the flying echidna was getting ready, Spectre composed himself and put his hands on Locke's temples. Almost immediately he felt Thunderhawk's hands on top of his own, and his son's presence gave him the force to gather his powers and begin to direct the intense pain from Locke's mind to his own.

At first Spectre nearly jerked away; the pain was so intense he felt like his chest was being ripped open. His hands trembled, and Thunderhawk did as he had been told and tightened his grip on his father's hands.

At once, Locke relaxed and closed his eyes as Athair moved to where he was floating above the bed. Sojourner was there as well, holding a metallic tray upon which were placed some surgery tools. Usually, Locke was the only one using them, but for once the slaves would save their master.

Gritting his teeth, Spectre nodded to Athair to signal that he was ready. The flying echidna returned the gesture and extended a hand toward Sojourner. "Scalpel."

Lara-Le was still standing in the corner of the room, frozen. Sure, she had known that Locke's state was critical, but that didn't mean she had expected her ex-husband to be such a mess. Bandages everywhere, blood soaking the once white sheets, and more pain that she thought was possible after one entire day of rest. Lara couldn't even bring herself to look at the surgery intervention, so her eyes were glued to the floor under the bed. All she could hear were Spectre's growls of pain and the metallic clang of the surgery tools being replaced on the tray.

"Needle." Athair's voice was unusually serious and stern. If Lara didn't now that it was him who was speaking, she would have never thought that this tone of voice was his. "Needle. Wake up, Second-father!" Lara's head raised up, and to her surprise noticed that Sojourner had his eyes closed and was turning a little green around the muzzle, as if he was sick.

Thunderhawk, still griping his father's hands, turned to Sojourner. "What are you doing, son? Open your eyes!"

"I-I can't," the red echidna shakily said. "I've never seen a wound so horrible... And Athair sewing it up... I can't look at it!" Thunderhawk sighed; he knew his son had the habit to freak out whenever he saw too much blood, he should have foreseen that Sojourner wouldn't handle the surgery well.

"Son, you don't have to look at it. Just give Athair the needle. Now."

"Quick!" the flying one piped. "We have four minutes!"

Sojourner gulped down and hesitantly cracked one eye open. He then grabbed the needle and handed it to his second-son, before closing his eyes tight once again. He could block out the sight of the surgery, but not the sound of flesh being punctured, nor Spectre's raspy breathing.

"Done," Athair anounced as he floated aside, replacing the needle back on the tray. "We should give him painkillers, a punctured lung isn't exactly a walk in the park. Second-father, could you go get some?" Sojourner swiftly nodded and exited the room.

Athair then placed his hands on Locke's forehead, near Spectre's hands. He seemed to focus on something for a minute, then smiled up at his fourth-father. "You can let go, Fourth-father. I've put him to sleep." Spectre released a relieved sigh at those words and let his hands fall from his grandson's head, breaking the mental contact.

Spectre staggered on his feet, and if it wasn't for Thunderhawk standing here he surely would have fallen to the ground. His son caught him on time and supported his weight as Specre regained his bearings. "Take it easy, Father," Thunderhawk said. "You should sit down."

The dark echidna suddely got the feeling that he was indeed getting old and needed to sit down to recover from a little pain. He gently pushed his son aside, determined to walk on his own. "Don't bother, Thunderhawk. I'll be in my room." And with that the elder black echidna was gone, followed closely by his stubborn son.

Athair turned to Lara-Le, who was still watching from the corner of the room. "You can come closer, you know, young Lara. Locke isn't going to wake up anytime soon, and when he does it won't be happy. He will need all the help you can give him."

Lara finally decided to walk over to the bed, but before she even took a look at Locke she spoke to Athair: "Why do you say that? You said you would give him painkillers."

Athair looked at her sadly. "I won't be able to. The only reason I sent Sojourner to find some is because he needed some air, he can't bear surgery. But I can't give Locke those, his blood is still recovering from lack of oxygen. Giving him painkillers would only make it worse."

Lara nodded in understanding and finally looked down at her ex-husband. His eyes were closed in restless sleep, and on impulse she took his hand in both of hers. The flesh was calloused and ragged under hers, but still Lara squeezed that hand which more than once had caressed her cheek, her fur, and had never hit her. Tears weiled up in her eyes as she looked upon the man she had and still loved, hanging between life and death.

Near the bed, a medical machine monitored Locke's heartbeats and blood pressure among others things. They were in all very weak, but Lara-Le wouldn't lose hope so soon. Locke was a Guardian, he would survive. _However I think Wyn won't... Sabre will want to kill him, and I don't blame him. I would want to do so myself. _She gave Locke's hand another squeeze as Athair moved to bandage his wounded chest.

"How long do you think it will take him to fully heal?" she asked the flying echidna.

"I'm not sure yet. One week, maybe two if he's lucky. Wounds like this usually takes a month to be fully healed, but Locke is a Guardian gifted with powers. He'll recover quickly, or at least I hope." Athair smiled brightly, a shining ray in the bare room. "But now you're here, all is well, right? Locke has got people who love him supporting him, that is the best cure we can find for now. All he needs is plenty of rest and his family, and he'll soon be jumping around!"

Lara smiled; she wished she could have Athair's optimism, unfortunately she was still worried somewhere in her mind. "I guess you're right, Athair. You always are." She reached out to caress Locke's cheek that wasn't bandaged, fighting off her sobs. "But on the other hand, I can't help but feel worried..."

"You have the right to. We are talking about your love, after all," Athair said simply, coming to float next to Lara. The female looked at him, surprised. "It is obvious that, deep down, you still love him. Why would you be there if you didn't? You two weren't meant to be apart, young Lara. It wasn't decided that way."

* * *

Locke looked around. He was standing in a dark corridor, and he could have sworn he was in Haven right now, at night. _Maybe all this never happened... Maybe I'm just heading to bed and Wynmacher never attacked me. It could have been a dream, yes an awful nightmare. Father is right, I do spend too much time working. I need rest. _

Now reassured, Locke turned around and cried with surprise when he saw Wynmacher standing here, a dagger in his hand and a smirk on his face. The brown echidna was looking at him like a predator watching its prey, dangerous and deadly. "So, Guardian, have you finally realized you should get your dirty paws off my Lara, or do I have to make you?"

Locke felt his anger burst through the roof. "What do you mean, _your _Lara? You have no right to call her that, she isn't yours! She isn't a thing!"

"Oh, really? Then tell me why you treated her like she was one? Give me one good reason why you didn't show you loved her? She loved you, Locke, but you didn't give a damn about it. You had your son, you ran away with him, and you left Lara broken. But it's all right, Locke, it's all right. I'm here to correct things." Wynmacher raised his dagger. "Now, prepare to die like the bastard you are!"

The dagger was thrown. Locke tried to dive to avoid being slashed, but to his surprise found his feet unresponding to his orders. All motions were slowed; the dagger was progressively flying towards the Guardian, who was unable to dodge it, and a second's time before the blade pierced Locke's chest a shadow moved in front of him. The dagger got stuck in the shadow, which fell back into Locke's arms.

To his utter horror, the shadow was a person. And this person was Lara-Le.

Staring at the pool of blood forming on the ground, at the dagger piercing his lover's heart, Locke found no words to express his despair. Instead of words, he released a heart-wrenching and ear-piercing cry of pain.

* * *

Lara-Le was startled when Locke, still lying on the bed, gave off a scream of pain. He began to trash around, his eyes tightly closed as he screamed repetatively. Athair himself didn't know what was going on, and was trying his best to smooth Locke down. "Here, calm down Second-son, calm down!" The flying echidna was trying to put his hands on Locke's forehead to get him to sleep again, but didn't manage because Locke was flailing wildly around.

His next words made Lara's blood freeze.

"Wynmacher, you bastard! You killed Lara!"


	6. Dark Alliance

**Chapter Six : Dark Alliance**

Ever since Lara-Le had left the house, make it a few hours ago, Wynmacher had been sitting on the sofa, silently plotting. Arms crossed on his chest, eyes glued to the floor, the brown echidna was playing the last two days in his head over and over, trying to figure out where it went wrong.

_Well, first, you broke into Haven to beat that bastard Locke up, did you really think it would go unoticed? _a nagging voice said in his mind. He shook his head but the voice refused to go away. _Then you come home drenched in blood, how could Lara ignore that? Still wondering what went wrong?_

Wynmacher swatted a hand in the air, annoyed. "I don't give a damn, he only got what he deserved. There's no need to feel sorry for him."

_Ah, but there is a problem here: Lara does. She's left you because she cares for him, maybe more than she cares for you. _

At this, Wynmacher growled, but he knew it was probably true. If you got her started, Lara could talk non-stop about this cold-hearted jerk, how he had changed over the past few months, how she wished he were like this when they were still together, and such. But Wynmacher could easily forgive her; she was a gentle soul and couldn't really hate someone at heart. The fact that she gave birth to that bastard's son only added to that.

_And why do you think she would go back to him now? Why would she go back to the one who hurt her instead of staying by the one who cared for her after she was abandoned? _

Realization struck Wynmacher as lighting would have done. "She still loves him," he muttered. "After all he did to her... she still loves him as if nothing ever happened." He growled. "She loves him and... and not me. Maybe she has never loved me at all... That sick, bastard, son of a bitch..." Wynmacher buried his face in his hands, closing his eyes.

_Maybe she does love you, but she just has to be shown the right way._

"And how do you expect me to do that?" the brown one snapped. "Now I can't just waltz in there and talk her back into coming back." Wynmacher sighed; he had really done it this time. There was no way in hell Lara would be coming back to him now that he had nearly killed her ex-husband – not that he was sorry about it, mind you.

_I can give you your wife back, _the voice muttered in a almost sensual way.

At this Wynmacher's head shot up, and he frowned. Speaking to himself was a fact, but receiving answers and even offers was definitely _not _normal. The young male quickly got up and scanned the room, growling softly. "Where are you hiding?" he asked to no one in particular. "And most of all, who are you?"

_I bear you no ill thought, therefore there is no use in me hiding away from you. You can't see me because I'm not someone who likes to be seen. Who I am is of no importance. _

"Oh, excuse me but I think it is, actually," Wynmacher said, slightly freaked out. "How come I can hear you but I can't see you? You have to be here somehow."

_You are right, Wynmacher, son of Voltan. I am here somehow, as you put it. Hearing me will be the only thing you will be able to do unless I see fit to reveal myself to you. _The voice was sweet and Wynmacher could have sworn the one speaking was grinning. _Now, I recall I offered my help, am I right? _

"How can I trust you enough to let you help me while I can't even see what you look like?" the brown echidna snapped back. "And how come you know my name? And my father's?"

_I know a lot more things than what you think. If I didn't then I wouldn't be there offering you my help, if only you would listen to me. _The voice, that had become quite hard, once again dropped to a sweet whisper. _But I trust you are going to listen to me. After all, we both have something the other wants, now, haven't we? _

"Want? What could I possibly want from you?"

_Well, first I possess power enough to have your wife back with you. Then I couldn't help but notice the way you think of the son of Sabre, Locke is it? _Wynmacher heard what could have been a sadistic chuckle. _I can make him suffer, bring him to his knees, even kill him if you want me to, and you would get away with it. I can change him in a way that will drive your wife, Lara-Le, as far away from him as humanly possible. I am able to give you what you want, but to avenge you as well. _

Wynmacher put a hand to his chin, deep in thoughts. This was just too easy; he would get Lara back and witness his enemy's suffering, and possible death, without having anything to do with it. No, there was a catch, there just had to be a catch. "And what do you want in exchange?" he asked, suspicious. "Surely you wouldn't help me for nothing, would you, especially when it's involving powerful Guardians?"

_Regardless of what you think, I too have some unfinished business with the Guardians. _The person speaking seemed to get annoyed by Wynmacher's question instead of the answer he awaited – because he was a male, by the sounds of it. _I intend to make them pay dearly for things you would not like to know about. Now, do we have an agreement? _When Wynmacher hesitated once again, the voice stifled a growl. _Do I have to say it another time, or can I take my leave? _

"You said I had something you wanted," the brown one said. "What is it?"

A sigh. Then the voice came back. _In order to carry out my plans, I have to know where my enemies are. Therefore, I only ask you to tell me their location and to give me the entrance code. _

Wynmacher nearly startled. "How do you know there is an entrance code?"

_I know it, this is a fact, and if you managed to break into their lair then you have to have it. I only ask for that. _Wynmacher didn't answer right away, and that only served to irritate his mysterious helper. _Fine then, if you're happy brooding here all alone, I will leave you to it._

"No, wait," the brown one suddenly said before he thought. "I... I can give it to you. If you promise you will bring back Lara unarmed, I'll help you."

_Ah, you are finally seeing things my way. So, do you have a deal? _

Wynmacher took in a big breath. "Yes... we have a deal. But I'd like to know one more thing."

_Which one? _

"Could you tell me your name?"

_My name is Enerjak._

* * *

Lara-Le was sitting in a chair near Locke's bed. To her it felt like she had been there for hours, just caressing the back of the male's hand while waiting for him to wake up, or at least, to move.

She had been quite shocked by the words he had cried out in his sleep. Guardians were known to have visions in their sleep, and she definitely hoped her ex-husband was _not _having one of those when he had spoken. It was unbelievable, really, Wynmacher would never hurt her, let alone kill her; although he had harmed lately, but not in a physical way.

Sighing, Lara looked up at Locke. He would have seemed to be sleeping peacefully if it wasn't for the thin tube in his nose, helping his abused lungs to breathe. His cheek supported a few stitches where flesh had been slit open, and there were some scratches on his face, but other than that he looked fine. His bare chest, freshly bandaged, was slowly rising and falling without a sound with each breath he took. His arms were laid out at hi sides, on the snow-white cover; a perfusion had been set on his left hand, while the right one was being held and softly caressed by both of Lara's hands.

Jenna-Lu nearly had a seizure upon seeing her son. She had run to the bed, startling Sojourner who had been standing there and hadn't expected a female to run by. And when Jenna-Lu had asked the red echidna how her son was doing, he had been too shocked to blurt out anything else than: "He may be dying."

The female swayed and had to use Sabre's arm as a support so she wouldn't fall. Locke's father had thrown Sojourner the darkest look ever while patting his wife's hand soothingly.

Now Jenna-Lu was in Sabre's quarters, probably sleeping. She stayed up all night, taking care of her son, watching over him and, mostly, crying silently. Sabre had been there too, but standing still as he watched his desperate wife, inwardly wishing he could do something about it. But there was nothing he could do, so he just allowed Jenna to deal with the pain the way she wanted. Often that night, she would come to him, feeling like she couldn't take it anymore, and he would just wrap his arms around her wordlessly and hold her as she cried in his shoulder, or simply suffered without a sound.

Lara-Le had marvelled at how much Sabre cared for his wife and son. He was a man who understood Jenna's pain and was able to share it, because he was Locke's father, because he loved him. If something like this ever happened to Knuckles, Lara-Le knew Wynmacher wouldn't be able to understand; the only one that could share her pain in watching her child suffer would be his father, Locke, but she doubted she would allow herself to share it with him as openly as Jenna-Lu did.

In the morning, Sabre had noticed just how worn out his wife was. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, and her face was tear-stricked as she was looking at her son. The dark brown echidna had taken her to his quarters despite her protests for her to rest a few hours. That had been half an hour ago, and since then Lara-Le had been alone with Locke.

The brown-furred female's head shot up when she heard a distant gurgling sound. She watched Locke worriedly, but her ex-husband looked like he hadn't moved an inch. On closer inspection, Lara noticed his upper lip had slightly curled up, revealing some of his teeth which made his sharp canines stand out.

Lara-Le didn't have time to register what had happened because it did once again. Locke opened his mouth a little and emited a faint strangling sound, as if he were choking on his own saliva. Lara got on her feet just as the red echidna swallowed, which was followed by even more gurgling sounds. "Locke?" she called tentatively. "Can you hear me?"

The male only choked somemore, and when she heard a whine amongst the noises he was making Lara-Le panicked. _Gods... what if he is... _"Help!" she cried out as she took off running towards the door.

But she hadn't reached the metallic panel before Athair came flying at top speed through it. He had kept a mental connection with Locke in case there was a problem, and there seemed to be one right now. Sabre had asked him to keep an eye on Locke for him, but the flying one would have done it anyway.

Athair flew right to Locke's bed and only stopped when he was above it, looking down at the still choking male with calculating eyes. By the time he decided on what he would do, Lara had gotten back to the bed and was watching with worried eyes as Athair reached for Locke's face.

The brown echidna cupped Locke's cheek to prevent him from moving, and when he was still enough, Athair reached for the tube. As slowly and carefully as he could, he slid it out of the younger male's nose, still holding him with a hand on his cheek. Locke grunted a little, but otherwise didn't struggle, and once the tube was entirely removed he released a big breath and leaned back against the pillow.

Athair put the thin tube aside and turned to Lara-Le, his smiling face brightening the dull room. "He can now breathe on his own," he answered Lara's question before she asked it out loud. "This is a great improvement! Now all we have to do is wait for the drugs to wear off and he'll wake up then."

Lara-Le, whose hand was back upon Locke's, looked up from the red male's face. "How long will it take?"

"I don't know for sure, maybe a day or two, or just a few hours. The shock was quite hard, it'll take him time to come back but he'll eventually manage, all in due time." Athair gave his second-son's head a gentle pat. "He doesn't need anything to breathe on his own now, that alone gives more hope than anything. Locke is strong, young Lara, but he is also someone who hides his strenght, and shield his heart, although he has gotten better at showing feelings lately." Athair then looked at her right in the eyes. "He needs you, young Lara. More than ever."

And with that, he was gone, out of the door, leaving a distraught Lara-Le in the room.

* * *

"Where is he?" Knuckles barked, fist clenched at his sides. "Where is my father?"

"Fifth-son, please stay calm," Sojourner pleaded. His head was throbbing and his grandson wasn't helping matters. He sighed as he rubbed a temple. "This is no moment to-"

"I don't give a _damn_! _Where is he?_"

Sojourner sighed once again as his headache won him over and he didn't answer, tired as he was. Be it Thunderhawk, Sabre or even Spectre, he was going to kill whoever informed Knuckles of what was going on. The youngest Guardian had just stormed into Haven, demanding where the hell his father was to the first one he met. Said one being Sojourner.

"Just say it, dang it! Or do I have to force it outta you?" Knuckles growled, raising a clenched fist.

Sojourner groaned, annoyed at the way things were getting, and turned heels to go away but Knuckles grabbed the front of his vest and pulled his fifth-father to him, their noses almost touching. "Wanna play games? Well I can play too."

"This is enough," a snarling voice said from behind Sojourner, who inwardly sighed with relief when he recognized his father. "Put my son down, boy, he hasn't done anything to you."

Thunderhawk came up to them and put a hand on Sojourner's shoulder, pulling him back as Knuckles finally released him. The red echidna mentally muttered his thanks to his father and winced as his head pounded even more.

Knuckles was still furiously growling. "Part of the game too, eh? Now, _Grandfather, _will _you _tell me where my father is before heads start coming off here?"

"No one's head is coming off, boy, except maybe for yours if you keep this up," Thunderhawk rumbled. "I wouldn't like sending you to your father in pieces, but if there is no other way then so be it."

It was times like now when Sojourner was glad his father was the way he was. The grumpy echidna wasn't going to yield; he was going to hold his ground like he always did when having an argument with someone, and if Knuckles wanted to engage a battle of wits, then Sojourner pitied him. Plus, his father's hand upon his shoulder was doing a great job in steadying him.

It took a few minutes, but after some growls and a few snarls that only made Thunderhawk's frown deepen, Knuckles's anger dissipated slowly. He knew there was no going through his ancestor. "All right," he sighed after a while. "All right. I apologize, Grandfathers, I acted out of anger."

Thunderhawk nodded and spoke in a softer tone. "Much more pleasant when you show some respect, my boy. It wouldn't do for you to act like this in front of your mother, now."

"Mom is here?" Knuckles asked as his fists unclenched, surprised.

Thunderhawk nodded once more, his hand never leaving his son's shoulder. "Lara-Le came to Haven yesterday."

"Yesterday? Just how long had this been going on?" Knuckles growled softly. "Since when has Dad been hurt? And who did it? The Dark Legion?"

Thunderhawk raised his eyebrows as he tried to register the questions and find answers to them at once. "Your father has been found injured yesterday morning, we suppose he was attacked sometime in the night. And as for who did this..." The lavender Guardian paused and seemed to be debating whether he should tell him or not.

"So? Come on!" Knuckles urged him.

"I'm not sure I should be the one telling you this, I'd rather let your mother do it. But our culprit certainly is your stepfather."

The young Guardian stared at his granfather without making a sound for a few seconds, utterly taken aback by what he had just been told. "You.. you can't be serious!" he exclaimed. "I know Wynmacher doesn't like Dad, maybe he really hates him, but... he wouldn't try to kill him, would he?"

"There are proofs," Thunderhawk said, his voice firm. "Your stepfather wasn't home the night the attack took place, and your mother says he came back to the house drunk and bloodied. We also found a black ring that looks like those Wynmacher wears on his spines. Then when she arrived this night, Lara-Le told us Wynmacher had admitted having attempted murder on Locke."

When Knuckles just stood there, his eyes widened, his sixth-father put his free hand on his shoulder. "How about going to the medical aisle? You too, son, you could use a good aspirin." Sojourner just nodded as Thunderhawk began to lead the two red echidnas in Haven's corridors.

* * *

Thunderhawk sighed to himself as he closed the door of his son's bedroom and walked in the corridor. Sojourner, who was suffering from a massive headache, had taken his father's advice and was resting in his room.

Locke's health hadn't improved, but it hadn't gotten worse. Thanks to Athair's supervision, they would be informed if that changed; Lara-Le, Knuckles, Sabre and Jenna-Lu were also watching over Locke.

Thunderhawk stopped. That left only one echidna wandering in Haven. _Father? _he mentally called out.

_Yes, son? How can I be of help? _came Spectre's deep voice.

_Oh, well, I was just wondering where you were... That's all, _he half-lied.

He received a mental chuckle. _I'm outside, Thunderhawk, and yes you can join me if you want._

Thunderhawk smirked to himself when Spectre answered his non-existent question. The black male knew his son wasn't one to want company every moment of the day, but he gladly offered it if needed. With the others worrying over Locke and filling the medical room, and Sojourner lying asleep on his bed, Thunderhawk was feeling quite alone and he was the first one surprised to find he didn't like it. He didn't really want to talk, or to walk, he just wanted someone to be with.

Amazed at how dull Haven was without Athair's happy-go-lucky behavior and Locke's cries of joy over a newly-built invention, Thunderhawk made his way to the elevator room and punched his code in. Soon enough, he found himself in Haven's cave and making his way to the forest where he knew his father liked to spend time every now and then.

And sure enough, Spectre was here, his back to a rock at the entrance of the cave. His expression was unreadable, from what Thunderhawk saw his father was deep in thoughts. He didn't dare speak up and interrupt Spectre's line of thoughts, so the lavender echidna just sat on another rock and leaned against the stone wall.

Spectre acknowledged his son by turning his head to him. "What time is it, son?"

"It was eleven when I left the sick bay, then I brought Sojourner back to his room," Thunderhawk mused. "I'd say eleven thirty."

Spectre nodded in thanks and his blood red eyes once again turned to stare off into nothing. Thunderhawk couldn't help but frown as he looked over at his father. The black Guardian's arms were crossed, and his whole body seemed tense as if he were ready to pounce at any moment. He was standing perfectly still and the light breeze was making his dark robes sway; to Thunderhawk he was looking like a pillar of security, a safe shelter, that's why he was puzzled to find him tense. "Nervous about something, Father?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Spectre mumbled. "I felt some bad Chaos waves, a bit sooner. They were short, but strong, and they had negative energy attached to them. I only know of one echidna able to create them."

Thunderhawk frowned. "Enerjak?"

Spectre nodded gravely. "He is happy about something. Those were waves of joy, and I can just imagine what is good for Enerjak means trouble to us."

"What do you think he was happy about?" the lavender echidna asked.

"I don't know... my best guess is that he somehow learned what happened to Locke, and what's not to be happy about from his point of view? One of his worst enemies is maybe dying, no wonder he is overjoyed." Spectre frowned. "But still... I find it strange that he allowed me to catch those waves. He knows better than to do that, he usually hides everything."

Thunderhawk shrugged. "Maybe he was so happy upon learning what happened to Locke that he actually forgot to hide his feelings, and you caught part of it. Don't worry so much, Father, there are already so much things on our minds."

"Don't you feel it, Thunderhawk?" Spectre asked. "Can't you feel how thick the air is? Can't you hear the Island?"

Thunderhawk decided to give it a try and let his Chaos abilities overcome him to the point where he could feel every leave falling from the trees. To his surprise, he actually heard the ground muttering fearfully, and the wind was bringing him agressive and frightening feelings. It seemed like the Island was watching something it didn't like and was whispering it in his ear.

The lavender echidna cut off this connection and shook his head. "I heard, Father," he spoke up. "However I don't know if it has anything to do with Enerjak. I doubt it; he doesn't know where Haven is, and even then he would have to find a way in, which isn't exactly a piece of cake."

"May Aurora have heard you, Thunderhawk. Chaos knows I wouldn't like to have to deal with Enerjak and his Legion right now, especially with Knuckles here, the Emerald unguarded and Locke in the medical aisle. We are much too weak right now, and I don't like it. I don't like it one bit."

Thunderhawk only nodded and slightly shivered as a stronger gust of wind engulfed him. Clouds hid the sun, and the forest took in a darker shade as the wind became colder. It was as if Chaos were telling them to find shelter quickly, and Spectre wasted no time in doing that. "It's getting cold. Come, son, let's get inside."

The lavender Guardian gladly followed his father in the cave as the black male went for the elevator.

* * *

It was decided that Lara-Le was to sleep in Locke's quarters that night, and Athair happily gave up his own room to Knuckles. "It isn't like I need it," the brown echidna had said. "I will be watching over Locke."

Lara had almost laughed when she had left her freaked out son in Athair's room. From what she had seen, there were plants of all sorts crawling up the walls and hanging off the ceiling; there even was a little fountain in a corner of the room. When she had walked away, she had heard Knuckles saying: "Boy, a hammock!"

Now she was finally reaching Locke's bedroom. She felt awkward sleeping in her ex-husband's bed while he was lying in the medical aisle, she thought as she opened the door.

The room was medium-sized and quite tidy, expect for a metallic desk upon which computer parts and papers were scattered. The bed was also medium-sized, and next to it there was a nightstand with a lamp. Lara put her bag on the ground at the end of the bed and sat on the mattress, running a hand on the covers. Just what time was it? She looked around for a clock, and found a digital one on Locke's desk. Eleven p.m.

She hadn't realized how late it was, and became aware of how tired she was after spending a day watching and worrying over Locke. The female quickly changed into her nightgown and crawled into the bed, smiling as she recognized Locke's smell on the pillow. It was a sweet mix of the lemon soap he used and a smell that only Locke owned and that Lara would recognize anytime.

Lara buried her head in the pillow, suddenly wishing none of this had happened, that Locke wasn't hurt, that Wynmacher wasn't so jealous. Wynmacher... what was she going to do now? She didn't want to go back to him after what he had done, but they were married, she couldn't very well walk away so easily.

Her mind was so flowed with these worries that she didn't even register falling asleep, snuggled up to the pillow as if it were Locke holding her and comforting her.

* * *

It was near midnight that Spectre was jolted awake by a mental cry. The black male rolled and fell off his bed, landing gracelessly on the floor, tangled in his covers. He cursed silently and once he was untangled he managed to get up, holding his throbbing skull. "I'm so going to kill whoever did that," he mumbled while rubbing his side of the head that had hit the floor.

Locke couldn't have done that, and Athair was watching over him so he would have averted the others if there was a problem with his second-son. Sabre was too serious for this, and Lara-Le and Jenna-Lu didn't possess Chaos powers. Which left him with... _Sojourner! You think this is funny, Second-son? _Spectre mentally growled.

But the only answer he received was Sojourner's snoring. It seemed like his second-son was deeply asleep and had been for the past few hours.

Oh, well... _Thunderhawk! What do you think you are doing, son? _

Spectre heard a yawn through the mental connection. _Father? _came Thunderhawk's sleepy voice. _What's going on? What did you wake me for? _

_You mean you were sleeping? _

_Well, that's usually what we do at night, Father,_ his son replied, slightly sarcastic.

But Spectre hadn't registered it. _But then, if Sojourner was asleep and you too, who could have... _

Then a very familiar and close-sounding voice whispered into Spectre's mind, and it only took a few words to send shivers down the black male's spine.

_Why, hello there, Spectre. _


	7. Captive

**Chapter Seven : Captive**

For a few seconds, time stopped for Spectre. For a few seconds, there was no sound but bone-freezing voice, there was no one but that evil presence, there was no other choice than standing here in silence, praying it was just a nightmare and that he was going to wake up soon.

_Well, seeing as you won't come and greet me, I'll be taking the liberty of coming in by myself, _Enerjak chuckled darkly.

This shook Spectre out of his static state. Enerjak was in Haven!

The black male didn't waste any time in calling the members of the Brotherhood one by one and explaining what was going on; he just released the biggest mental cry of fury one could muster, which not only allowed him to evacuate his anger but also succeded in waking up his grandsons who began asking at once what was wrong.

_Sons, we're under attack! _Spectre mentally yelled. He didn't wait for his sons' answers, nor did he take any time to dress or to put his visor on; the black male immediately bolted to the door and in the corridor.

Sabre, whose room wasn't far from Spectre's, quickly ran to his grandfather followed by Jenna-Lu and Lara-Le who had been awaken by the brown male. "Who is attacking us, Fifth-father?" he asked worriedly, fidgeting with his monocle that was in his hands.

"Enerjak, unless he's playing another one of those wicked games of his," Spectre growled.

Sabre paled at the mention of the name. "Edmund... what are we going to do? Locke is still out, and with Knuckles here..."

"Hush, Fifth-son," Spectre cut in abruptly. "Shield your mind, if Enerjak really is here then he can easily read it."

_You sure are a quick one, nephew, _Enerjak chuckled. There was another laugh, one that belonged to a female, and Spectre quickly identified it as Lien-Da's.

The dark male growled under his breath and turned to Sabre. "Hide your feelings from him, don't let what he says get to you. Take Jenna-Lu and Lara-Le to some place safe and bring Knuckles on your way back. I get the feeling we are going to need all the help we can get." With that he turned heels and ran to Thunderhawk's and Sojourner's rooms.

He found the two echidnas in the corridor. Thunderhawk was only wearing some sort of shorts and his hair was ruffled as he just jumped out of bed. Sojourner, completely naked, had to lean on the wall for support while his head throbbed with pain. The sight of his sons in such a funny situation would have made Spectre laugh, however things were far from normal.

Thunderhawk turned to look at the dark corridor until he was able to make out his father's red eyes and white birthmark. "Father?" he called out. "What is the matter?"

Spectre was about to answer his son's question when a distant explosion was heard. The lavender echidna's eyes widened as he flung around, and Sojourner had to get his hand away from the wall that was shaking. The sound of the explosion resounded for a while on Haven's metallic walls.

"What was that?" Sojourner asked, surprise overcoming pain for a little while.

"That, it seems to me, was the elevator room being destroyed," Spectre grunted. "I'm afraid Enerjak isn't alone, and if so then we have to drive his troops as far from the sick bay as we can, for Locke's sake. Let's wait for Sabre and Knuckles." Spectre was struggling to keep his cool as he contemplated every possible course of action, which was extremely hard to accomplish when your home was being attacked in the middle of the night. "We also have to protect Jenna-Lu and Lara-Le, and we have to go get Athair."

"I think we won't have the time to do so," Thunderhawk softly growled as nearing footsteps were heard pounding in their direction. "Our uninvited guests are here, we should get ready to greet them the proper way."

Sojourner nodded and struggled to catch his footing as his headache came back viciously. How in hell was he going to fight in this state?

The footsteps were nearing the corner of the corridor they were in, and all three Guardians readied themselves to hurl Chaos-powered bolts at anyone and anything that looked like a Dark Legionnaire. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Thunderhawk's face, and Sojourner was slightly panting with anxiety.

Thanks to Spectre's quick reflexes, the first black-robed echidna who emerged from the other corridor was now face-down on the floor, probably and certainly dead.

His comrades, a squadron made of a dozen Legionnaires, were quick to counter attack with their guns. Thunderhawk planted himself ahead of Sojourner and Spectre and did his best to block the energy-filled shots with blasts of his own, while his two relatives threw Chaos bolts at their enemies. Their teamwork proved to be perfect, and it only took them a few seconds to bring all the Legionnaires down.

Thunderhawk looked over at the stack of corpses with disgust. "War is definitely not my thing."

"Neither is it mine, son, however at times war cannot be avoided," Spectre said. "Seeing as this one can't, let's find Sabre and Knuckles. Who knows, maybe Athair is with them."

"Athair?" Sojourner whispered. "What about Locke?"

"If we were to die, Locke would be quick to follow. I think we can afford to leave him by himself for a few hours if that means getting rid of the Dark Legion. Athair can be of help, now come."

All three echidnas turned heels when a voice rumbled from within the darkness. "Nobody is going anywhere. Freeze, Guardians."

Spectre's muscles tensed as he surprisingly did as he was told, and he sensed his sons were doing the same. His blood-red sight was scanning the dark corridor in order to locate his mystrerious attacker, but to no avail.

"Don't try anything, I'm aiming for your neck," the voice threatened. "If you value your life, do not move."

_Father? What shall we do, now? _came Thunderhawk's growling mental voice, and Spectre just had to smile. His son didn't sound worried or frightened, and it seemed clear the lavender echidna had no intention to remain docile for long.

_Let them come to us, son, we can't risk fighting off shadows and ghosts. _

Thunderhawk mumbled something that Spectre didn't catch, but that he assumed was a good heartfelt curse directed at the Legion.

After a few seconds of immobility, Spectre caught movement in the shadows. He stared long and hard till he was finally able to make out a dark-robed figure heading toward him. The more the echidna walked, the better Spectre saw what he looked like.

The Dark Legionnaire was a middle-aged echidna, probably going on his forties, and by the way his hood was pulled back, revealing his face, and the number of scars he bore, he wasn't a mere soldier.

The left side of his face was patched up with metal, covering his forehead, his eye, his cheek, and even reaching under his chin. His cybernetic eye was the same icy blue as his natural one, and was darting from a Guardian to another. He didn't possess any normal spine; there were wires on some, others had been cut off and replaced by metallic ones, and one had even been cut off and left that way. A crest of dark brown hair was running from the back of his skull to his forehead and over his eyes.

Spectre felt a wave of impatience coming from Thunderhawk but he brushed it off. _Not now, son, we don't know how many of them are hiding in this corridor. _Indeed, behind the brown echidna, soldiers were moving in the shadows. They could have been a dozen, twenty or thirty, Spectre couldn't really tell, but if they ever decided to fire together, the Guardians were dead.

"Well, well," the nearing Legionnaire chuckled, his weapon directed at Spectre. "If it isn't the great Guardian Specter, son of Tobor... Given how powerful I was told you were, I was expecting your capture to be a bit more... challenging."

"Tell that to the twenty corpses down the corridor," the black male snapped. "If you aren't happy with your share of challenge then maybe I'll send you join them, if you wish."

The Dark Legionnaire bared his teeth in fury and pressed his gun under Spectre's chin. "I'll pass that offer," he hissed. "You're lucky the Dark Lord wants you all alive, else your blood would already be coating these godforsaken walls." His rumbling voice somehow became softer. "Now you are going to follow us to the Great Dimitri, without any fuss, and maybe he'll go easier on you."

"Well, being killed slowly or quickly makes no difference to me," Thunderhawk retorted. "Your bastard of a master doesn't even know what pity means."

Sojourner shuddered slightly when the Legionnaire's cold eyes fell on his father. Thunderhawk should have known better than to spit on Enerjak's name in front of his Legionnaires. The red echidna held his breath as the brown one walked over to the lavender Guardian, who remained unmoving.

"Looking for trouble?"

"Yeah, and I found you, how convenient," Thunderhawk snarled back.

The Legionnaire grabbed the Guardian's neck with his free hand. "You worthless son of a-"

"Now, now, Rykor," a female voice purred from somewhere over Spectre's shoulder, "you know better than to disobey a direct order from the Great Dimitri, don't you?"

The Legionnaire, whose name was Rykor, pushed Thunderhawk away with a grunt of disgust.

Spectre turned to look at the owner of the voice, even though there wasn't many females in the Legion. Grinning from ear to ear, Lien-Da was leaning against the wall. She was clad in a tight black suit that barely covered the most essential parts of her body; she had one hand on her hip while the other was holding her whip. The leather strap was swaying back and forth dangerously, as a promise of what was to come.

"Your mother never told you it's rude to stare?" she smirked at Thunderhawk, who was intensely glaring at her. "Even at a pretty lady?"

The echidna's cheeks gave off a slight blush, though Spectre couldn't tell if it was due to anger or embarassment. "Yeah," he replied. "But she never told me how rude it is to break into one's home, destroy everything while fighting the people living there. I had to figure it out myself."

Lien-Da brushed the answer off with a wave of the hand. "Whatever. Let's go meet with the others, I trust they captured the remaining Guardians. The sooner we deal with that, the sooner we'll play."

When she turned around to give orders, Spectre mentally reached out for Thunderhawk and Sojourner. _Sons, are you ready? Now, on the count of three, let's get out of this mess... One... Two... _The mental connection was suddenly broken when a Legionnaire clasped a flat metallic collar around his neck. The black male startled and brought both hand to the item, afraid it was designed to strangle him. But the collar remained motionless, and Spectre turned to see Sojourner and Thunderhawk were now wearing some as well.

The lavender one grasped it and tried to break it, his teeth bared in fury, but to no avail. He tried to summon his Chaos powers to give him more strenght, and it came as a shock to him to find that he was unable to.

Lien-Da chuckled. "No use in struggling, handsome. These were designed by Great Grandfather himself to annihilate your Chaos abilities." She walked over to him, her hips swaying in a suggestive way. "Save your strenght for... later." She winked at him as she ran a hand under his bearded chin.

"Get lost!" Thunderhawk barked, baring his teeth as he tried to bite her hand away. When soldier came up to the Guardians to encircle them, the lavender echidna punched the Legionnaire that was behind him to the floor. "I'm not too crazy about having a gun pressed into my back! Don't forget I still have my fists!"

"That will be easily corrected," Lien-Da purred.

* * *

"Keep your dirty hands paws away from her!" Sabre growled once again as a Legionnaire made a grab for Jenna-Lu.

The one-eyed echidna was currently sitting against a wall, his hands bound behind his back and his head bent forward because of the weight of the Chaos-dampening collar he was wearing, cursing himself. On his way to take Jenna and Lara-Le to safety, he had met with Knuckles and about thirty Legionnaires. Both males had to protect the females and fend off enemies at the same time, which proved to be a very difficult task, and they soon had been outnumbered, overcome and finally captured.

And here he was now, helpless because of that damned necklace and those mere ropes. _Edmund would have died of shame if he had known a couple of ropes and a necklace were enough to bring a Guardian down, _Sabre thought bitterly.

Knuckles was beside him, mumbling and growling as he struggled unsuccessfuly to free himself. As if it wasn't bad enough, Legionnaires were creeping far too close to the females than the Guardians would have liked, and they made it clear.

"Get away from my mother, you sick bastard," Knuckles hissed through gritted teeth as a soldier brushed past Lara-Le. "Or else I'll rip your ribcage open and use your eyes as table tennis balls."

"Now, this is no way of speaking to your masters, Guardian," Kragok's deep and raspy voice came from Sabre's right. "You ought to show more respect."

"Who do you think you are? My dad?" Knuckles snarled furiously.

Kragok brutally slapped him across the face with his cybernetic limb, one of the claws tearing Knuckles' lip and making him bleed. The young Guardian slightly winced and decided to shut up, sticking to throwing his dark cousin a deathly glare. "You will talk only when allowed to, Guardian."

Moritori Rex, who had been leaning against the wall examining his boots, barked out a laugh. "That's right, Kragok, show him you're the boss! We can't have a feisty lad with us, can we?"

"I, personally, have nothing against feisty lads, Grandfather," Lien-Da grinned as she walked out of mere shadows. "They're more fun than the docile ones."

Rex chuckled and tried to look over Lien's shoulder. "And who are you bringing with you, Granddaughter?"

"Just some rude runaways, they didn't want to come to our party," the female said. "But we managed to convince them to tag along with us, it was easy enough. Well, except for a small detail, but I covered that." She gestured to the soldiers walking behind her, and Sabre muffled a gasp.

Spectre and Sojourner were being held by two Legionnaires in case they tried to escape, but other than their furious glares they seemed to be in good health. Thunderhawk was another story: the lavender echidna was unconscious, and was being dragged by his feet by two others Legionnaires. His hands were bound together and were resting upon his stomach. Sabre winced upon seeing some open wounds slitting Thunderhawk's stomach, shoulders and chest open. The lavender echidna's spines bore small but deep cuts, as well as his cheeks, and his mouth was leaving a thin trail of blood on the floor.

Kragok frowned at this. "Lien, Great Grandfather said we were to capture them alive and in perfect health."

"Well, I will give Great Grandfather a piece of my mind when I see him," Kommissar growled. She pulled her collar away from her neck a bit, uncovering a nasty looking bite mark at the junction of her shoulder and her throat. "I wasn't aware Guardians resorted to teeth when their powers were suppressed and their hands bound. No one ever warned me."

"Never heard of a biting Guardian," Rex chuckled. "Well, you sure taught him."

"He better remember that," Kragok added, nodding.

The Legionnaires dragged Thunderhawk near Sabre and Knuckles and dropped him there. Spectre came over to his son and crouched next to him, checking him up for any serious injury. Before he could even take a closer look, Lien-Da pushed him forward and the black male hit his head against the wall, his teeth clenching together hard. "Sit. Good boy."

Sojourner's throbbing head told him to sit down on his own before someone pushed him brutally, hurting him more than necessary. The red echidna leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

Moritori counted the Guardians and frowned. "Two are missing. You sure you found no one else? We're missing the rainbow-colored freak and the computer whiz."

"Have you ever listened to what Great Grandfather says?" Kragok growled in annoyance. "The Guardian Locke is probably dying in the medical wing. We're only missing the flying guy. Let's wait for Father and his troops, maybe they have him."

"Or maybe they don't," Luger's silky voice said as he approached. He ran a hand on his combed-back hair. "I'm afraid I come empty-handed, my son, but this is quite the stack you got us here," he added upon seeing the Guardians.

Kragok grinned widely at his father's pleased tone, which made Rex and Lien-Da growl. "He wasn't alone, y'know!" they snarled together.

Knuckles snorted at this and leaned toward his second-father. "Do they make you wanna throw up too, or am I the only one?" That comment only earned him a kick in the cheek from Lien-Da, which made him hiss in pain. "Gee, can't you take a joke, you stuck up fools!"

The female Legionnaire, who was looking like she was going to kick him again, decided against it and raised her whip instead. "I see where your sharp tongue comes from, don't worry I may just know how to cure it..."

Knuckles kept a straight face whereas Lara-Le gasped slightly at the very idea of her son being hurt in any way. "You won't make Grandfather Thunderhawk shut up that easily, his guts and tongue are known to resist to much worse than that. So are mine. Now strike, if you're so confident, unless you're afraid I'd find out you hit like a sissy."

Lien-Da's blood boiled as a small smirk made its way on Spectre's face. "Why, you..." Her whip came down, and Knuckles mentally shielded himself against the pain.

But it never came.

The whip was suddenly jerked out of Lien-Da's hand by some invisible pull, and was sent flying away. Before anyone could react a deeply amused voice rang in the corridor. "Now, Lien, is that any way to thank your dear cousins for inviting us in?"

Spectre's eyes closed halfway when he heard the dreaded voice, praying it was nothing more than an awful nightmare, when he heard a chuckle. "I'm more present than ever, nephew."

Indeed, when the black echidna looked up, he saw his worst enemy looking down at him, a grin visible under his beak-like mask. Here stood Enerjak, in all of his golden armored glory, glowing even in the dark corridor. His hands were on his hips, and his unusually long spines were waving behind him. Spectre couldn't help but notice that the golden armor was bumped in some places, and that the most part of what was visible of Enerjak's skin was scratched badly. "Well, Uncle," the dark Guardian spat, "it seems you encountered some problems lately."

The insane Lord waved the comment off. "You know how dingoes can be. They didn't take me killing their leader too well, especially that Stryker, so I had to rough them up a little."

"And I wondered why echidnas and dingoes don't get along well," Knuckles ironised.

Enerjak looked up and smiled as if he was noticing Knuckles' presence. "Ah, my dear young nephew! I haven't seen you lately, I was beginning to miss you."

"Sorry to say that this isn't mutual."

"So, how are you doing?" the armor-wearing echidna pursued, ignoring Knuckles' comment. "Still with that bat? Nephew, you should come back to your senses, she is no good for you." The red Guardian snarled and was about to bite back something to defend Rouge when Enerjak cut him off. "And your father? I was told he isn't feeling well these days, maybe you should talk to your stepfather about it." The immortal one grinned; he was taking pleasure in playing with the young one's mind.

"You leave Dad and Rouge out of this!" Knuckles barked.

"Ah, but what's the point of a family meeting if people are being left out," Enerjak chuckled. "Which makes me think..." Edmund's twin turned and raised a hand to the ceiling, but nobody was able to see what was up there. "I was beginning to wonder when you would show up."

Enerjak's hand waved, and some sort of dark-colored ball came falling from the ceiling. The leader of the Dark Legion caught it with his telekinetic powers and hurled it at top speed to the other end of the corridor. The blur sped past the Guardians, and Spectre could have sworn he saw bright colors on the shadown, but then again he couldn't really tell because of the darkness. Before he had time to ponder over that, the "thing" crashed against the wall, and Spectre winced when he heard the sound of bones being broken.

Sabre, who was the closest, was the first to discover what was now lying in a heap on the ground. "Father!" he cried out, horrified. He tried to scoot closer but Luger prevented him from doing so with a feet on his shoulder.

Enerjak made his way over to Athair making tssking sounds. "He should have known you can't sneak up on me that easily. Well, I only knocked him out." He picked the brown echidna up and dropped him next to his son.

Sabre was doing his best to not cry out again. Athair's forehead now bore a deep cut; his nose was certainly broken judging by the way it was bending, and blood was slowly pouring out of his mouth and on the floor. A few colored rings had been dislodged and were now scattered on the ground. "Father," Sabre whispered more to himself than to Athair. "Great Aurora, Father..."

"What do you want, you son of a bitch!" Knuckles growled at Enerjak, furious.

"Ah, my boy, don't call your great grandmother that," the immortal one chuckled. "Well, as for what I want... I intend to bring you all back to Necropolis, lock you up, have fun with you seeing as you're family, then kill you seeing as you're also enemies. I thought it was pretty obvious."

"What about Mom, and Grandmother Jenna?"

Enerjak turned to the two females and seemed to think for a few seconds. "Well, my troops can always use a female or two." Lara-Le couldn't help but shudder as the Legionnaires dissolved into dark chuckles in the shadows, and Jenna-Lu got closer to Sabre in fright.

Athair's son growled. "Not even in your wildest dreams."

"This is no dream, nephew." Enerjak then grinned. "Well, now we're all together, let's head back to Necropolis. Oh, I almost forgot." The immortal echidna slapped his armored forehead and grabbed Lara-Le's arm. "Sorry my lady, but you were part of the deal."

"Deal? Which deal?" Knuckles shouted. "Leave her alone!" The red Guardian struggled around and ended up kicking Thunderhawk's head unintentionally. The lavender echidna woke up with a grunt, spitting up blood on his bearded chin. Upon seeing Enerjak, Thunderhawk widened his eyes and tried to crawl away, but was unable to because of his wounds.

Spectre stared at his son, and right then something broke inside his mind. He was the eldest, and the leader of the Brotherhood, yet here he was all bound and helpless and watching as his family was being torn apart. When Hawking had died, Spectre had been given the entire responsibility of the Brotherhood of Guardians, and therefore his duty was to stand out for his sons and make sure they were safe at any cost. Any cost...

"So, ladies and gentlemen," Enerjak said with a large grin. "Let's fetch my dear nephew Locke and head back home!"

This one sentence, that got most of the Legionnaires cheering, made Spectre's collected attitude topple over. He couldn't let his sworn enemy destroy these lives he had witnessed evolving. "Wait!" he suddenly called out, surprising everyone including himself.

Everyone turned to him, and even Thunderhawk seemed baffled.

Enerjak just smiled. "Yes, Spectre?"

"I... I'd like to suggest a deal," the black male said in a voice that wasn't quite his own. He avoided his sons' eyes on purpose, already knowing they would be puzzled or worried, his bloody gaze never leaving the immortal one's.

The latter chuckled, amused. "Suggest away, nephew."

Because of the power-dampening collar, Spectre knew he couldn't talk to Enerjak mentally, but he was fairly sure the ancient one could still read his mind. He resorted to that so his sons wouldn't hear anything about his "deal". _I want you to leave Haven and let my sons be, as well as Jenna-Lu and Lara-Le. _

Enerjak raised one eyebrow. "That is some strange deal, nephew. How can I accept your offer when I don't see what I get out of it?"

Spectre took a big breath to gather his courage before carrying on. _Me. You get me. I'll go with you without putting up any fight. I'll do whatever you want me to do, in Necropolis or anywhere else. Just leave them alone. _

Enerjak frowned. "How can I be sure I can trust you?"

_You have my word, as a Guardian. _

Spectre felt his hopes raise as the insane echidna actually seemed to ponder over the offer. He understood the situation was pretty interesting; one of the two most powerful and respected Guardians willing to obey his every and any order. The black one knew just how appealing this sounded to Enerjak, and that was why he had made that deal. If that sacrifice meant his sons would be safe, then he was fine with it.

Enerjak then grinned widely. "Very well, nephew, I shall accept that offer." His overly happy voice and quick answer worried Spectre, but he didn't press the matter seeing as he had gotten his way. The armored one turned to his soldiers. "Free them."

The Legionnaires were so startled they just stood where they were, their eyes widened and their arms at their sides. Rex, Luger and Lien-Da were in the same position, and Kragok's jaw was hanging open. Enerjak growled. "Are you all deaf? I believe I just said something; do I really have to say it again?"

His tone rang like a threat, and at once Legionnaires scrambled to the Guardians to unclasp the collars and undo the ropes. Sabre immediately kneeled by his father to check him over although that was unecessary, and Thunderhawk managed to get up on slightly trembling legs. The lavender echidna eyed the Legionnaires suspiciously, as if waiting for them to threw themselves at his throat at any moment.

Enerjak ushered away a Legionnaire who wanted to take off Spectre's collar, and put his hand on the black echidna's shoulder. "Well, nephew, I'll leave you all a moment, I am fairly certain you have much to say. We will be waiting by the elevator, or what is left of it anyway." Enerjak chuckled. "Good luck explaining."

Spectre shot him a dark glare as the troops began moving away in the corridor, toward the elevator room. Enerjak was leaving him to explain his "deal" to his sons, how foreseeable; the ancient one was delighted by others' pain.

Within seconds the whole corridor was clear, and Thunderhawk walked over to Spectre. "Well, that had to be one hell of a deal!" he exclaimed, a small grin evident on his face.

"For a few seconds back there, I really thought we were dead," Knuckles nodded while getting up, going straight to his mother who had been left by Enerjak. He hugged her gratefully, and she returned the embrace.

"Just what did you tell him, Grandfather?" Sabre asked, still kneeling by Athair but now relieved that his father was breathing normally and wasn't bleeding so bad. "Did you trade in some zones of Angel Island?"

"Like _that _will ever happen!" Thunderhawk chuckled. "You got him good, Father, if Enerjak believed that one then he is more insane that what I thought." The lavender echidna then looked at his father, who hasn't spoken ever since the Legionnaires had gone away. "Father? Are you all right?"

Spectre sighed. "I'm fine."

"Wait," Sojourner said, "why haven't they taken your collar off too?" The red echidna pointed to the thick metallic band around his grandfather's neck. Spectre hadn't even realized it was still hanging off his neck, weighting a little on his shoulders. "Is that another of Enerjak's jokes?"

When Spectre made no move of surprise, Thunderhawk frowned. Normally his father would have ranted about how long it was going to take to take the collar off, how Enerjak's sense of humor was only one-sided, and such. The lavender echidna was afraid he was beginning to see things clearer now.

"Father," he called out seriously, "what was the deal about?"

Spectre decided he had to act quick; Enerjak wouldn't wait forever, and if he got impatient he might just come back and capture everyone after all. The black male had no choice but tell his son the truth. "My freedom, for yours. I'll put up no fight and go with Enerjak because I know I'm the main Guardian he wants. And," he added soundly when his son frowned and opened his mouth, "this is my choice so I don't want to hear anything about it."

Sojourner, who was leaning against the wall, stared up in surprise at his relative. Sabre widened his eyes and slightly gasped. "But Grandfather, it's-"

"Mad, foolish, suicidal, I know Sabre. However I'd rather be tortured for days on end than know you are suffering from the same fate. I'm old, sons, I'm becoming more and more useless, and you can't say otherwise. I'd have met my end, it was just a matter of years, but I can't stand aside and pretend I am not the leader and eldest of the Brotherhood." Spectre held back a sigh. "This is my duty."

Knuckles, who was stil holding his mother, looked at Spectre in a shocked way and broke the uncomfortable silence that had settled. "You're really gonna go with him? To Necropolis?"

Spectre nodded. "There is no other w-"

"You can't leave us!" Thunderhawk burst out. The younger echidna got right in front of his father, who sighed this time. He had expected his son to act this way. "You can't go and leave us like that! Father, please, stay!" Spectre's son's tone of voice was pleading, and Spectre could have sworn Thunderhawk's lips had trembled with the last sentence.

"Son, you have to understand-"

He once again was cut off. "There's nothing to understand! What if Enerjak comes back and attack us once again while you're captive?"

Spectre shook his head. "He gave me his word."

"Bullshit!" Thunderhawk roared. The other Guardians winced; they had never seen the lavender echidna so furious, so angry at his father. "He has no word! It's a trap! What if you..." His voice trailed off a bit but he shook himself. "What if you get killed? How will we go on without a leader?"

"You won't go on without a leader," Spectre said softly. His surprisingly gentle red eyes bore into his son's. "I think it's time you took matters into your own hands, my son."

Thunderhawk willed his face to remain furious at his father, not wanting to show his growing despair. "What do you mean?" he rumbled although he had a good idea of the answer.

"You know perfectly well what I mean. You are coming of age, son, it's time for you to be in charge. You'll be a good leader to the Brotherhood of Guardians."

"I can't," Thunderhawk immediately said. His angered expression finally broke down as he shook his head, replaced with full-blown denial. He couldn't even imagine this prospect. "I'm not ready."

"That you are, but whether you like it or not, you are now the eldest member of the Brotherhood," Spectre said. He hoped his voice was firm, like he wanted it to be, and didn't give away how he really felt inside. He did his best to steel himself before he spoke again. "From the second I walk out of Haven, I want you to accept all of the meaning and responsibilities coming with this title. Will you?"

Thunderhawk crossed his arms. "No, I-"

"_Will you, _Thunderhawk?" Spectre's voice made it clear it wasn't a real question, because the only answer would have to be a positive one. The black male winced inwardly when he saw his son cast his eyes down; he didn't mean to be so harsh, but he had no time to chat and Thunderhawk wasn't making it any easier.

He closed the distance separating him from his son and put his hands on his shoulders. "Look at me, Thunderhawk," he called out as gently as he knew how.

Somewhat wet blue eyes rose to meet red ones. For a few seconds, father and son just stared at each other, and everyone witnessed the unspoken exchange of words in respectful silence. It had been a while since Spectre and Thunderhawk had acted that way, so long in fact that nobody could remember when exactly.

"Why?" Thunderhawk asked raspily. Sabre could have sworn his grandfather was going to break down at any moment.

"Because it has to be that way, my son," Spectre answered calmly, squeezing the lavender one's shoulders. He gazed sadly at his son's wounded face. "I couldn't let Enerjak hurt you, this is my duty to protect you all. This duty is now yours, and I'll trust you'll take good care of them. Make me even prouder of you than I already am."

On impulse, Thunderhawk bolted forward and hugged his father, hard. He crushed his chin against Spectre's shoulder, wrapping his arms around his father's torso and squeezing harder than ever, as if he was afraid Spectre would escape. He released his deathly grip just as quickly, taking a step back and leaving a shaken Spectre to register what had just happened. It had been a long time since Thunderhawk had shown that much emotion to him, and it dated back to when he was only a young echidna.

_Spectre, I'm getting impatient, _came Enerjak's yawn. _We would like to go today, it that was possible. _

This shook Spectre awake, and he turned to the members of the Brotherhood. "Take care of yourselves, my sons." His red sight fell on Thunderhawk. "You too, son. Stay safe."

Once the lavender one nodded, and Spectre was done with biding farewell, he turned heels and walked to the elevator room. Nearly immediately, Thunderhawk turned the opposite way and walked off, probably to the medical aisle to check on Locke and clean his wounds.

But Sojourner knew better. He had seen tears in his father's steel blue eyes.


End file.
